Crossing Over the Arcane Hiatus

Chapter 6: Meet the Herd

“Hey Twilight! There ya are.” The orange mare was trotting up the path, her dusty and worn hat blocking the sun and cast a shadow on the rest of her face. Her yellow mane was tied at the end but still got in her way with the slight wind. She nudged it aside and then locked eyes with me, with a confused expression on her face. However confusion turned into surprise followed by what looked like anger.

“Twi'! look out!” Applejack suddenly went into a full blown sprint. I knew what was coming and tried to at least move, but my body wouldn't respond. It’s not like I’d be able to run that far anyway.

“Applejack?” Twilight said in confusion, and then quickly realized what was going on. “Stop! What do you think you’re doing? He’s friendly!”

“What am ah doin’?” Applejack stopped in her tracks as Twilight jumped between us. “What’re ya doin’ callin’ this thing friendly fo’?”

“Because he's friendly, AJ. His name is Chris, and he’s not going to hurt anypony. He’s not even from around here.” I gave a sigh of relief and looked to Applejack.

“Uhh… hi? I’m sorry about before. I think we got off on the wrong start. My name is Chris.” I smiled and she looked around, to me, to Twilight, and then back to me,

“Did it just talk?” She was dumbstruck.

“Yes I did. It’s… nice to meet you Applejack.”

“Uh huh… Twilight, can I talk to ya fo’ a minute?” The two mares huddled up a few yards away, leaving me clumsily handling the duffel bag.

“Twilight… tha’ thing kills animals. And ah found some skin on it when ah knocked it out and buried it in the woods.”

So that’s where my belt went. I shot her a look. They didn’t seem to know I could hear them.

“Applejack, I know. But he’s not going to be doing that here. Trust me.” Twilight whispered back.

“Hey!” I shouted at them getting their attention. “I can hear you two."

Twilight was speaking louder now, “Applejack, that’s just how his culture is. He’s not from here, and he promised not to do anything like that while he’s here.” Twilight craned her neck back to her friend while coming towards me.

“Here, let me carry that.” Using her magic she picked my duffel bag out from under my arm, almost tipping me over. “He’s hurt Applejack, and Princess Celestia said I should introduce him to everypony.”

“Well, if Princess Celestia says so…” Applejack seemed embarrassed and kicked the dirt. “Ah’m sorry about before. No hard feelin’s?”

“No hard feelings.” I replied with a smile on my face, and that seemed to brighten her mood.

“Hey now wait a minute. Twi', if you’re goin’ to Ponyville we’re gonna be movin’ alwful slow.” Applejack was motioning in my direction pointing out my injuries. “Ya think we could get a ride back ta Ponyville?”

“That’s not a bad idea! Let me go back inside and see if I can catch up with the Princesses. They could probably get us a ride!” Twilight smiled and turned to run back inside when the doors suddenly opened. Princess Luna appeared carrying my backpack. Applejack and Twilight immediately bowed, and I tried to do the same but couldn’t without falling.

“Oh, you’re still here?” Luna curiously asked. “I was just about to go deliver your satchel to the Ponyville library.”

“Ahem, Princess Luna,” Twilight started, “If we were to walk to Ponyville, we may not make it back in time by nightfall, due to Chris’s condition. We were wondering if you wouldn’t mind perhaps getting us a ride back into town?”

“Oh of course friends.” Luna dropped my backpack down on the front porch. “I’ll go make sure an escort comes over and picks you up.” She smiled and turned around back into the palace.

“Well that’s mighty convenient.” Applejack said with a sigh of relief. “Also, ah’ve never been in the Royal Chariot before!”

The chauffer probably wouldn’t be getting here anytime soon, so I walked over to the grass and sat down. The cobblestone porch became a path that twisted its way down the main gate. The front lawn was enormous and was recently cut, and the various plants that lined the walls were also trimmed. The sun was directly out overhead and my watch said it was 11pm. My sitting for some reason picked up Twilight’s interest, and she set my duffel bag down, took another book out of her satchel and wrote something in it. Applejack looked at what she was writing, shook her head, and then wandered over towards me.

“So, err,” She nervously began, “What are ya?”

“I’m a human.” I told her, but it didn’t look like she was at ease.

“About what happen’d in the woods…” Applejack continued.

“Oh no, it’s alright.” I said trying to reassure her. “I don’t blame you for what you did. It must have been scary when you first saw me, all bloodied and whatnot.”

“Heh, ya,” Applejack tried to hold back a smile. “Ya must’ve been as scared as ah was. Again, sorry about buckin’ ya. I must’ve got ya right in the gut.” The mention of that suddenly shot some pain across my chest. I completely forgot about the bandage that ran around my abdomen. I lifted my hands and touched the one on my head to make sure it was still there, and then looked back at down at my leg. The pain subsided for the most part, but returned whenever I put pressure down on it. I smiled and looked back up her and to Twilight, who was still writing.

“I was pretty banged up anyway.” I told Applejack with a slight smile, and she smiled back. “Whatever you did couldn’t have been any worse than what happened to me before,” motioning to my leg. Twilight seemed to have been eavesdropping and looked up at us from the book.

“Hey, how’d you break your leg anyway?” She asked.

Right… I hadn’t told anyone about what exactly happened…  I cleared my throat and explained,

“I was camping when I noticed the tree above me caught fire. I kept all my food in the tree so bears wouldn’t get it overnight.” Okay, I was lying. It may not be the best thing to tell the truth right now.

“I tried to climb the tree to get this bag down when I fell and broke my leg. I also hit my head against a rock, I think. I can’t really remember anything else before that.” Applejack shamefully blushed and kicked the ground again. Twilight had accepted this answer and wrote it down before closing the book.

Then our chauffer appeared, and it was the golden royal chariot drawn by two royal guards. The pegasi landed down in the front lawn and calmly stared into space, a blank expression across their faces. Applejack helped me stand back up Twilight lifted all my things into the chariot. The three of us boarded and then we were off through the sky.

Add flying to my list of fears. I’d never flown before and being several hundred feet above the ground with more than half the cabin open wasn’t reassuring. I huddled near the front holding onto what I could for my life.

“I take it you’re not fond of flying.” Twilight said with a slight grin. “Don’t worry. We’ll be at Ponyville in about twenty minutes. Just try to relax.”

“Hey Applejack!”

The three of us looked around in confusion at who just spoke. I peered over the side and saw that some pony was flying alongside us. Her coat was a light cyan almost exactly that as the sky, and her mane was vibrant with different colors; Rainbow Dash. Against my judgment I looked down and then threw myself back down onto the floor.

“Howdy Rainbow!” Applejack confidently leaned over the side of the chariot. “What’re ya doin’ up here?”

“Well, I can fly…” The pegasus began, “And I was about to ask you the same thing. You were going to help me with my new trick today!”

“Oh, right. Well, ah tell you what. We’re on our way to Ponyville and ah’ll help ya out when we land, how’s that?”

“Actually, this is kind of convenient.” Rainbow Dash flew over us and landed in the center of the chariot, almost knocking Twilight over the edge.

“Oh hey Twilight! I wasn’t expecting you in here. Actually, I didn’t expect any of you in here. And uh, what’s this?” Rainbow Dash was puzzled by my presence.

“My name’s Chris.”

“Chris, huh? Well okay then, my name is Rainbow Dash, and you look really beat up. We can chat later though; I’m kind of in a hurry.” After looking over the edge, Rainbow Dash now diverted her attention over to Applejack. “Are you ready?”

“Uhh, fo’ what exactly?” Applejack intrigued. Her answer was Rainbow Dash shoving her over the edge of the chariot and flying after her. While I was sitting in the corner in shock, Twilight looked over the edge after her friends.

“Oh they’ll be fine.” Twilight reassured me. “They’re above a river so Applejack will be alright, but you shouldn’t worry about that; Rainbow Dash is one of the fastest pegasi in Equestria. Oh, and I forgot to ask before and seeing as Rainbow Dash briefly been brought it back up, how long does it take a broken Human leg to heal?” She pulled out the black book again and reopened it.

“Usually no more than twelve weeks. Sooner if you’re lucky.” I remembered that one article I read online. My head was full of stupid information I thought I’d never use. Twilight quickly wrote that down and returned the book. “But that depends on how badly it’s broken. It could take several months if it’s completely shattered,” I added.

“Oh, yours is only fractured in two places.” Twilight confidently said.

“…And you know that how?”

“Oh, nopony told you?” Twilight was upset and sat down. “Well, hopefully you won’t be here that long. I’m sure the scientists and scholars back in Canterlot are trying to figure out how you got here and get you back home.”

We arrived in Ponyville after about fifteen minutes of flying and touched down in front of the Library. The streets were surprisingly calm while we disembarked, except for a mint green unicorn with a sky blue mane who sat at a table a few yards away. She was trying to eat a sandwich but hadn’t yet closed her mouth while Twilight helped me step inside the library, which was just as I remembered it from the show. It was a tall hollowed out tree with the second story partially hidden in the canopy. When we got inside, there was a small desk near the front door and then a hallway which led to an open room where most of the books were kept. On the second story is where the bedroom was, with even more bookcases. We walked into the center room where Spike was dangling on a ladder trying to put a couple books back.

“Spike!” Twilight called out, “I got someone here I want you to meet!” Turning to me, she whispered, “He’s a dragon. A baby dragon.”

Spike tried to turn around but fell, taking a few books with him. The stubby, small reptile was covered with shiny violet scales except for some larger green ones protruding out of the spine and down the length of his tail.

“Yeah? Who is…” Spike sat up and stared at me in silence before snapping back into reality. “Wow, and what is it?”

“Err… Long story.” Twilight answered for me. “Spike, meet Chris. Chris, Spike.”

“Nice to meet you.” I waved at him.

“Nice to meet you too.” He clumsily picking up the books that now riddled the floor.

“Oh, and here.” Twilight was carrying my bags along with her satchel, and using her magic she dropped them on Spike who fell over again. “I need to get a letter to Princess Celestia; can you take these upstairs for me? Chris will be staying for a while so he’ll be sleeping in the spare bed.”

“Uhh… sure…” He pulled himself out of the pile and picked the bags up. “Ugh. What do you have in here anyway? Bricks?” He scoffed before walking away.

“And Chris, there lots of books in here. You’re more than welcome to read anything you want.” Twilight said while writing in one of those scrolls she sends to Princess Celestia. “Let me finish writing this and then we’ll go over to the Carousel Boutique. My friend Rarity lives there and she should be able to fix up some of your clothes, but she’s really busy right now so I don’t want to burden her with extra work. I’m sure she won’t mind though if we stop by and say hi.”

The walk through town to meet Rarity was… unique, to say the least. Most ponies were more intrigued if anything by me, but I'm not sure if it's because they likely haven't seen a human before, or if it was my condition. For the most part the townsfolk kept their distance but were still close enough that I could reach out and touch one if I wanted to, but there were a few who darted off into the nearest building in fear. We were stopped by the occasional passersby for small talk, but Twilight plowed a path through whatever major crowds appeared. Having her alongside me probably reassured some of them slightly.

We only walked for a few minutes and I was already getting weak. “Hey Twilight, it’s about noon. Could we stop somewhere for a bite to eat?”

“Sure! Sugarcube Corner is close by, we can stop there. My treat!”

*GRRROWWGRBBL*

My stomach let out a happy roar and Twilight giggled. Sugarcube Corner was just ahead, and was just as vivid and colorful as the show. It resembled a large gingerbread house like something out of a fairytale. As we walked in a bell on the door rang as it opened, and the inside looked just as colorful as the outside; the storefront was littered with several candy colored display cases and a few tables. Mr. Cake appeared out from the kitchen and walked out into the front room.

“Oh hi Twilight and… friend?” Mr. Cake froze and gasped, but relaxed after Twilight gave him a slight nod.

“Hello there.” I said, soon followed by my stomach.

*GRBL*

“Ah, well, I was just about to head on out and get baking supplies. Those pastries won’t bake themselves after all.” Mr. Cake was running out the door now, “Pinkie Pie should be here, she can order you two up something.” And like that he was gone.

“Pinkie Pie’s here?” Twilight was now hyped up. “Great! She’s one of the friendliest ponies in Ponyville! I need to introduce you to her-“

“Introduce me to who?” Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped up from behind the register. Her pink coat obviously gave reason to her name, and her equally pink mane resembled cotton candy.

“Ooooohh…” Pinkie Pie hopped over the counter and started bounding in circles around me. “Well, obviously it must be him. Or her. Are you a her? Maybe you’re an ‘it’! Or maybe a strange combination of-“ Her face met Twilight’s hoof and she stopped in her tracks.

“Heehee, sorry. The name’s Pinkie Pie, and I don’t know who, or what, you are because I’ve never met you before, or seen your kind before, so that means you must be new here! Oh, I should throw you a welcoming party! It’d be great way to meet the townsfolk! Also, what happened to-“ Twilight shoved her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth again.

“Pinkie Pie, this is Chris. Chris, meet Pinkie Pie. He's going to be in town for a bit.” Twilight released her hold from Pinkie Pie, who sat down on the floor eagerly listening. “We were just in the neighborhood and he was getting hungry, so I thought we’d stop by for lunch.”

“Oh of course!” Pinkie Pie sprung up again. “And because I don’t know you, well I know you now, but because this is my first time meeting you the first one is on the house! So, what you want?” Pinkie Pie quickly ran over to one of the display cases.

*GRRRRBBRRRLGRBL*

“Um…” I began, clenching my stomach. “Do you have anything with a lot of protein?” They both were confused by this question until Twilight remembered my old diet and Pinkie Pie seemed to get what I was asking.

“Just one second, I’ll be right back!” And Pinkie Pie disappeared behind the counter only to pop right back up. “Here you go!” She produced a cupcake. It was slightly larger than any others in the display, and had a darker tint to the dough than the others too. It was elegantly designed with a rainbow pattern of frosting, and a small yellow lightning bolt in the center. A rather disturbing thought crossed my mind for a second, but was immediately surpassed by hunger and I ate the entire thing in about ten seconds.

“Wow, you must be hungry!” Pinkie Pie was surprised, and Twilight got a few coins to out and started to give them to Pinkie Pie.

“Oh no no no no no!” Pinkie Pie shoved back the money. “I told you this one was on the house. And seeing as how hungry you are, and that you’re hurt, have another one! Consider it a gift from me to my new friend!” I went to saw thanks but was rudely interrupted.

*GRBL*

I guess that groan was thank you enough for her as a large(r) grin ran across her face. She quickly took out similar cupcake and after setting on the counter I devoured that one too.

“We usually reserve these high-protein ones for big muscly predators like gryphons who pass through. No offense but you are big but not that muscly. Are you a carnivore?” Pinkie Pie hadn’t stopped smiling.

“Omnivore, actually.” I corrected her as I swallowed the last bit. “My complements to the chef.”

“Teehee, thank you.” Pinkie Pie shifted away hiding a blush before turning back. “You better not go around eating any meat while you’re in Equestria though, especially here in Ponyville. A majority of the inhabitants are ponies, and they don't think kindly of that kind of thing.”

“Don’t worry Pinkie Pie, we already discussed that.” Twilight smugly glanced at me.

“And Chris, those are only worth twenty bits each, so albeit not that cheap, they aren't expensive either.” Pinkie Pie calmed down a lot from earlier. “Stop by anytime and I’ll have another ready.”

“Bits?"

“Oh right, you’re not from around here, are you?” Pinkie Pie hopped back over the counter and started dancing around me again. “Let me give you a quick rundown: A gold coin is equal to 1 bit, a silver coin is worth 5 bits, a nickel coin is worth 10 bits, and copper coins are worth 50 bits. If you’re really rich you’ll probably come across a 100 bit coin, and those are made of Aluminum! Also there’s supposed to be 1000 bit coins made of obsidian, but I’ve never seen them before so I think they’re just a rumor.” She stopped between Twilight and I giggling to herself. “Why don’t I throw you a party later?”

“Maybe some other day,” I began, and that sentence had threw Pinkie Pie into a slight depression, “Twilight was going to show me around town some more.”

“Yeah! Pinkie Pie, why don’t you join us? We were on our way to Rarity’s.” Twilight chimed in.

“Sorry, but I can’t.” Her mood immediately dampened again. “Mr. Cake had just gone out, and Mrs. Cake is upstairs taking care of the foals, so I’m in charge of the store for now.”

This pony is sort of like an emotional rollercoaster. I thought as she perked back up.

“But maybe some other time? We can have a party then!”

“Alright, some other time.” I sighed as another large grin ran across her face. “I guess I’ll see you around Pinkie Pie.”

“Yup! You sure will!”

After saying goodbye we were back outside and on our original path to Rarity’s.

“I’m sorry; I completely forgot to explain this to you.” Twilight laughed to herself as we walked through town. “As I’m sure you noticed, there are four types of ponies here in Equestria: Earth-Ponies, Pegasus-Ponies, Unicorn-Ponies, and Alicorns. I myself am a unicorn, evident by the horn, and therefore I can easily harness the power of magic. Pegasi are able to fly, such as Rainbow Dash, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie are examples of earth ponies who don’t have any such abilities. Alicorns however, like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, can both fly and use easily magic, and Alicorns are usually taller than the rest of us. Also there are these things on everypony’s flank called a ‘Cutie Mark.’ As you can see, mine is a six pointed star, it symbolizes magic which is my specialty. Do you understand?”

I nodded and she continued. “When a filly grows up, they get their Cutie Mark and it symbolizes either obviously or abstractly what their special talent is. For example, Pinkie Pie’s is a pair of balloons, hence why she loves to throw parties, and- oh look! We’re here!”

We arrived at the boutique, and the building was bigger than I thought. It was a large, white two-story structure set aside from the rest of the town. Practically every inch of the building was decorated in one way or another on the outside to the point where it looked more out of place in Ponyville and belonged in Canterlot. Then again, this is Rarity so that shouldn’t be too surprising.

The inside of the boutique was just as clean as the outside, except for the floor in main workroom where Rarity was comparing fabrics. Her indigo mane that was well kept and in curls, and a light bluish-gray coat stood out from the fabric she was working on.

“Is somepony there? Oh hello Twilight! And... who’s this?” Rarity turned around, shaking a measuring tape off her neck. Lifting her head up we both made eye contact and she stared up at me and sat back down on the floor perplexed.

“Hello Rarity, this is my friend Chris. He’s going to be town for a while so I’m spending the day showing him around.” Twilight cheerfully told her friend. "I thought we'd stop by and say hello."

“Hello Rarity.” I said, leaning against a wall. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry to say I don’t have time for this right now.” She pouted. “However, do allow me to formally introduce myself; my name is Rarity, fashion designer and shopkeeper here at the Carousel Boutique. Now I don’t mean any offense, but I am quite busy and must return to my work for some very important clientele,” she said turning her attention back to the floor.

“We can chit chat again some other time.” She picked up a roll of fabric before walking away.

“Oh course Rarity; we’ll let you back to your work.” Twilight said to an empty room as we backed out the door.

“She’s usually not that busy,” Twilight told me as we walked down the street, “But most of her clients are in Canterlot, so when she does get a project on her hooves she wastes little time.”

“I understand. Now where to?”

“Well, there’s still somepony I want you to meet. Her name is Fluttershy, she’s really docile but nervous around those she hasn’t seen before, so be very nice.”

Oh shit. I forgot about what happened in the woods.

“Hey Twilight, I think-“

“Yes?” She asked nonchalantly.

“… Isn't Fluttershy that yellow mare with a long pink mane?”

“Yeah… how’d you now that?” Now she was confused.

“In the forest when Applejack found me, she was there too. At the time I was covered in blood, so I think she might be afraid of me.” Wearily, Twilight looked back up to me.

“Oh. Well in that case let me talk to her first. There’s no reason to scare her even more. Actually, there she is now.”

The marketplace we were at was clustered with stalls. There were ones selling soap, paintings, pies, utensils, vegetables, drinks, and books amongst others. The ponies behind the stalls and even the ones who were shopping paid little attention to me, at the most doing double-takes and whispering to each other. It’s like my presence was already known throughout the town. Fluttershy was at one of the stalls buying carrots.

“Fluttershy…” Twilight began softly moving towards her friend. “This is Chris. He’s a friend of mine and you don’t need to be afraid of him.”

Fluttershy turned around and started to say what I thought would have ended up as a "hello" but she never finished the word. She immediately backed up in fear at the sight of me.

“Hello...” I waved at her only for her to retract further. “Sorry about before, I didn’t mean to frighten you in the woods."

“Umm… umm... uhh...” Fluttershy took a deep breath and sighed. “Tw-Twilight...?”

“Fluttershy, it's alright.” Twilight peacefully told her.

“Okay…” Fluttershy nervously got up. “My... my name is... Fluttershy…”

“It’s nice to meet you Fluttershy. My name is Chris.” I smiled but she just brought her head to the ground, hiding herself behind her large pink mane.

“Umm, ex-excuse me,” she now backed up again before taking to the air. “But I need to get these carrots to Angel. That bunny won’t feed himself.” And she took off leaving a small cloud of dust on the ground.

“Fluttershy’s really nervous around those she doesn't know.” Twilight turned to me, “but give her time and she’ll loosen up. Speaking of time, we have a lot left in the day. Is there anything you want to do?”

I looked up into blinding sun for a minute and then back down to check the time; just after 1am. I took a deep breath and thought for a moment. For the most part, every pony I’ve encountered was either really nice or didn’t seem to care about my presence, almost like I’ve already been accepted into the town. Then some pain shot up my leg and I started to hunch over but stopped myself.

“Actually,” I admitted, “I’m getting kind of tired from walking around. Could we go back to the library? On my world, it’d technically be midnight right now.”

Twilight was not surprised by that bit of information and replied, “Sure. I’m getting pretty exhausted myself. The library should be just down this street. We’ve actually just walked in a big circle.”

Back in the library I went upstairs and sat on what I assume is now my bed, since it had all my things on it, and Twilight’s bed was adjacent to mine on the other side of the room. I opened up my bags and emptied their contents in my lap, soon afterwards Twilight appeared.

“Can I come up?” She asked.

“This is your home, you shouldn’t be asking permission.” I sarcastically said. Twilight laughed and walked up.

“What are you doing?” She asked curiously, picking up the car battery with her magic only to remember what it was and carefully placed it down exactly where she got it.

“I’m just going over everything, making sure things aren’t broken, that sort of thing.” I answered her and she jumped up on her bed. “What do want?”

“I was actually hoping you could show me some of this stuff in detail. You gave rather vague descriptions back in Canterlot.”

“I see. And I forget, but what are those?” I pointed to her satchels that lay in the corner. “I know what they are; I just keep forgetting the name to them.”

“Saddlebags.” She responded and opened one of them up, taking out the dictionary, one of my pens, and the black book.

“That’s the name.” I snapped my fingers and that seemed to of frighten her for a second.

“What was that?”

“This?” I snapped my fingers again. “Oh right, you have hooves. If you have fingers, and put pressure on them like this, you can make this noise.” I snapped once more.

Twilight was impressed and jotted that down in the book as I opened and turned on my laptop. As I was making sure there was nothing wrong with it she picked up my wallet with her magic and took out all the money, some of it bloodstained.

“So this is your currency?” She asked.

“Yup. Not sure what the exchange rate is here though. And after Pinkie Pie explained what is used for currency here, I can’t imagine it being worth anything.”

Twilight was counting it all. “$7,450. How much is that worth?”

“$7,450? I thought I had more than that, oh well. Anyways, for about $2 you could buy a pound of apples. I don’t know how much a pound of apples is worth here though.”

Her jaw dropped. “Applejack sells apples at a bit a piece!”

“Well, I had been saving for almost two years.” That didn’t change her expression. She recounted it all before returning it to the wallet and then picked up my makeshift wall outlet.

“Actually I need to use that.” Twilight reluctantly set the wires in my hand and instead picked out one of the novels. I took the car battery and connected everything and sat it back down on the floor to charge the laptop.

“What’s this book about?” Twilight held it up.

“Lord of the Flies. A bunch of kids get stranded on a desert island and have to survive.”

“Can I read it?” she asked enthusiastically.

“Sure, but I’ll warn you; it can get graphic at times.” She was elated and set the book down, and brought over another. “What’s this one? It doesn’t have a title.”

“That’s my... diary. Could I have that back please?” I was embarrassed but at the same time didn’t want anyone to read that. It’s my journal with the events after when I ran away jotted down, and nobody needed to read that.

Or at least not yet. I set aside and tossed her the other novel I had.

“That one is The Grapes of Wrath. It takes place during an economic depression and is about a family that tries to survive. Again, that one can be graphic at times too.” Twilight picked up the book and added it to the pile. I turned on my iPhone and it was at 70% battery life, so it should last for another day.

“Oh, is that the… what was it? A phone, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of useless now. I highly doubt there’s another one somewhere in Equestria, let alone do I have their number. You can play games on it though.” I turned on Angry Birds and handed it to her, and she picked it up with her magic.

“There’s no buttons. And what do you do, anyway?”

“It’s a touchscreen, meaning you touch the screen.” I showed her how to play and use it, and she was able to use her magic to get the screen to respond. While Twilight was preoccupied with that, I took out my iPod and it too was only low battery so I plugged it in to charge. I took everything that I thought wasn't too important in my backpack and slid it under the bed. Looking at my clothes, I only had a few clean outfits left, along with a spare jacket. I folded them up nicely and placed them in the duffel bag and slid that under the bed too.

“Hey Twilight, is it alright if I use this nightstand?”

“Yay! I beat the level!” She cheered. “I’m sorry, what? Oh, yeah you can use it.” And she went right back to the game.

Opening the top drawer there were some books, so I took them out and put them in the bottom drawer. Then I placed my food and water in there along with my duct tape and the knife, which I'm surprised they gave back. Also, somehow the ponies back in Canterlot were able to fold up what was left of my tent and umbrella and I slid those under the bed too.

“I know it’s 2 o'clock in the afternoon, but I’m going to go get some sleep. I’m tired.” I yawned, crawling under the sheets.

“Alright, I'll wake you up if anything exciting happens.” Twilight answered, still playing the game. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”