Contact

The walk back to the train station is very quiet and sad; clearly, none of us want to say anything. We go into our private car, and I plop down onto one of the benches. Twilight sits next to me, looking concerned.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks comfortingly.

“What’s there to talk about?” I whine.

“Well, how are you feeling?”

I groan and rest my face on my hands. “Terrible.”

“I understand how you’re feeling,” she says, putting her foreleg around my shoulder.

“No,” I snap, throwing her hoof off me, “You don’t. Neither does anyone else on this train. Hell, the only people that know how I feel now are the other humans on this planet, and they’re nowhere to be found.”

“That ain’t called for!” Applejack scolds me. “She’s jus’ tryin’ to help!”

“Well, I don’t want her help!” I yell. “Or any of yours!”

“You don’t want our help?” Pinkie shrieks. “But isn’t that what friends do for each other? Aren't we your friends?”

“You are my friends! You’re my only friends on this whole planet, but sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do! I don’t want anyone’s pity!”

“It’s not pity!” Twilight says angrily. “We’re all legitimately concerned for you.”

“No,” I growl, “You’re legitimately giving me pity. You don’t want to help; you want to feel sorry for me. All of you."

"Of course we feel bad for you!" Twilight yells. "That's why we want to help!"

"It wouldn't be pity if you actually wanted to help, which you aren't. Pity is when you feel bad for someone but don't give a rat's ass about helping them."

"At least let us try!" Twilight snarls back.

"No. I don’t want to sit here and act all, ‘Woe is me’ and have you pat me on the back and tell me everything’s fine, because it isn’t.” I stand up and walk into the aisle. “I’m going.”

“Where?” Twilight asks.

“I don’t know. I don’t care! Somewhere where I can sort all this out without anyone trying to tell me that everything’s perfect!” I walk to the back of the car and open the door, which leads to a completely empty passenger car.

“Fine,” I hear Applejack’s voice from behind me, in the car I just left. “Let ‘er go.”

“I just hope she comes around soon,” Twilight replies sadly.

“You and me both,” I whisper. Not totally satisfied with simply being in the next car, I keep walking. I pass through some more empty cars, and the ones that have ponies in them are fairly empty. They look at me strangely, then go back to whatever it was they were doing before. It’s amazing how fast ponies can shrug off something incredibly bizarre and unheard of. I guess it just happens a lot.

I have to stop my wandering when I get to a little platform built off the caboose. I lean on the railing and take a few deep breaths to calm myself. After a little bit, my anger turns into simple emptiness. Emptiness stemmed from uncertainty of what to do now.

I feel something tapping my shoulder. “Hey,” a deep voice says. “Do I know you?”

I turn around and see a tall, grey creature with legs like a goat and a really buff chest. It looks a bit comical, since the legs are pretty wimpy and they’re supporting such a large frame.

“No, I don’t think so,” he says. “You looked like someone I knew from the back.”

“Really?” I ask, a bit skeptically. “Because there are only 4 other of my type on this planet, and only one other’s a woman.”

“You’re a, oh what was it, a human, right?” he asks.

“Yeah. Have you met another?”

He nods. “One. But I think it’s a man. I had just thought he grew his hair out.”

Alarms start going off in my head. “You know another one?” I ask frantically. “What’s his name?”

“I don’t know,” he says, scratching his head. “I only met him once for a brief moment.”

“Where?” I ask desperately. If there’s another person somewhere here, I want to find them. “And do you know if he was staying there or just passing through? How long ago was it?”

He backs up a bit, probably startled by my barrage of questions. “Uhh, it was a month or two ago. It was in Minos, the minotaur capitol city.”

“Minotaurs?” Now the whole goat-man hybrid thing makes sense. “Are you a minotaur?”

“Yes!” be blares. “Iron Will, teaching ponies to assert themselves!” Somewhere in the distance, I can hear a goat bleat in excitement.

“Thank you, Iron,” I say. “I’m half deaf now, but at least I know where to go next.”

“Anytime!” he yells.

“Do you need somewhere to stay in Ponyville? I live there, and seeing as you helped me, I feel I should return the favor.”

“Ehh,” he puts his arm on his neck nervously. “No thanks. I’ve got a connection to another train. I’m not exactly…on good terms with the ponies of Ponyville after last time.”

“What happened?”

“A bit of a mishap with one of my assertiveness seminars,” he says, embarrassed. “One mare took it a bit too seriously and terrorized the town for a few days.”

I can’t help but smile a bit. “I guess that would be a reason to stray away from Ponyville.”

He turns to the door and opens it. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need my beauty sleep!” He pulls out a frilly, pink eye mask, which makes me take him even less seriously.

“Have fun,” I say, trying not to bust out into laughter. He walks in and closes the door, and I look back out on the moving countryside of Equestria.

***

I don’t move an inch until the train stops in Ponyville about an hour later. I turn around when it stops, but I hesitate. I don’t really feel like going through the cars to get to the platform since I don’t want to face Twilight and everyone else after my outbreak. Instead of facing an awkward conversation, I decide to jump over the railing onto the tracks. I hear Twilight’s voice, so I crouch down, using the station as cover.

“Has anypony seen Keerthana since she stormed out?” she asks.

I can hear the other ponies all give her a “no” in response.

“Ah’m gettin’ worried ‘bout ‘er,” Applejack says. “Ah just checked the train. She ain’t on it.” I mentally breathe a sigh of relief; that probably means I just missed Applejack’s round of the cabins.

“Maybe she flew away!” Pinkie offers as a solution.

“Pinkie,” Twilight groans, “How many times do I have to tell you? Humans can’t fly.”

“That’s what they want us to think,” she says in a sly voice.

“I think I’m going to check by her house later,” Twilight says. “I’ll give her a half hour. She could already be on her way, for all we know.” When Twilight finishes speaking, I hear six ponies’ worth of hooves walk off toward the direction of the library.

I jump onto the train platform. I have half an hour to do everything I need to, so I can’t waste any time. I start a light run to my house, which thankfully is on the other side of town from Twilight’s library. In about four minutes time, I’m at my door. Twenty-six left until I’m either out of here or facing the music for my actions.

I fling my backpack onto the couch and go into my bedroom. Since I usually only carry the computer and occasional water bottle in it, nearly all my stuff’s elsewhere.

I pick up a few writing utensils and pieces of paper. I doubt they’ll be useful, but you never know. I pick up a bag of bits and put it in my pocket, since it’s one of the only things I know I’ll need. I go into the kitchen and to the fridge, which I still don’t exactly know how it runs without electricity. There are a few water bottles and not much else, so I take the water and put it on the counter.

After I grab a few bags of crackers for snacks from the cupboard, I bring all the food to my bedroom and start packing. I decide to take the pistol and one magazine just in case not all minotaurs are as friendly as Iron Will was. I haven’t had to use it since I came here, and really hope I don't have to start anytime soon.

I grab one of the watches I had Jaycee send me through and look at the time. If Twilight were to wait exactly half an hour (and I know she would), I’ve still got a nice six minutes left.

Since I have a little time to spare, I grab one of my pens and a sheet of paper off my desk and start writing.

Dear Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash

I rub my chin, trying to figure out how I can tell them my plan without actually telling them the whole truth of it.

I’ll be back soon.

It’s not a great way to say goodbye, but it’ll work. I grab a thumbtack, put on my backpack, and start for the door. When I get to the window, I check a few times to make sure no one’s coming. Luckily, they aren’t. Quickly and stealthily, I open the door, stick my note to it, and very cautiously go to the train station.

“Do you have any tickets to Minos?” I ask the teller.

“A few. When do you need to get there?”

“As soon as possible,” I whisper.

“I can get you there by tomorrow evening if you don’t mind changing trains in Baltimare.”

I rack my brain for the basic Equestrian geography Twilight taught me. “Baltimare? Isn’t that the complete opposite direction of where I need to go?”

“Do you want the ticket or not?” he replies with a level of crass capable of giving me a run for my money.

“Man, you’re pushy.” I pull out the bag of bits and put some on the counter. He takes them and slides me two tickets.

“This one is from here to Baltimare,” he says, pointing to one. “And the other one is Baltimare to Minos.”

“Thanks.” I put the tickets in my pocket. “I’d tell you to have a nice day, but I think I already ruined it.” I turn around and walk to the train, but I swear I can hear his eyeballs rolling. I walk in and take the only empty bench in the car.

The train starts rolling, and a mare comes around with a drink cart. I get some ice water and see if I can eavesdrop on some of the conversations the other ponies are having. The filly in front of me is going to spend the week with her father, so I can only assume that means the mare next to her is her mother and that she’s just there for escorting purposes. The stallions behind me are talking about going home from Canterlot University for the summer. Outside of the ponies immediately around me, I can’t hear any other conversations.

I take a sip of my water and silently wish I was one of them. Seeing your parents and coming home from college for the summer; two things I’ll probably never get to do.

***

After a fun (term used a little loosely) few-hour train ride to Baltimare, I have to get off and find the train to Minos. Wading through giant crowds, I finally get to the platform, where the train taking me to another human being is sitting.

I get on and am relieved to see that it’s a sleeper car. I jump into one of the bunks, and before I know it, the train’s pulling out of the station. There has to be some mistake, since I’m the only one in the car. I may even be the only one on the whole train, outside those whose job it is to be on these. I'm not really tired yet, so I pull out one the Daring Do novel all the ponies have been pestering me to read and open it up.

***

20 hours after the train leaves Baltimare, I step off the station in Minos. Sure enough, I’m one of the only ones that gets off.

The sun’s really low in the sky, which gives it a dull, fiery orange color. However, the beauty of the sky can’t overshadow the state of the city itself; nearly everything’s just gray. Drab and gray. The mountains around it, the buildings, most of the minotaurs, and even the mud that’s everywhere has a grayish tinge to it.

“Excuse me,” I say, flagging down a passing minotaur. “Hi. Sorry for interrupting, but have you ever seen another creature like me here before?”

“Of course!” he says. “Everyone knows him! He’s what he calls a ‘human’. You look like him, are you one as well?”

Well, that was difficult. “Yes!” I beam. “And I’ve come from Equestria to find him. Do you know where he lives?”

“Sure. Follow me.” He starts walking through the gray mud, and I follow him. After a bit of trudging in thick, goopy mud, he brings me to a gray stone house that looks exactly like every other one in the city. “This is his house,” he says, pointing at it.

“Thanks.” He smiled and walks off, and I have to do more trekking to get to the front door. I knock a few times and brace myself.

The door opens, and Will is standing right there. “Keerthana?” he asks.

“Will?” We both stand still for a moment, trying to let the gravity of the situation sink in. At the same time, we both break out in huge smiles.

“I didn’t know you were here,” he says ecstatically.

“Same!” I cry out.

“My gosh,” he whispers excitedly. “Come on inside.” We walk into his house, and just like everything outside, the predominant color here is gray.

“So how long have you been with the minotaurs?” I ask.

“Since I got here. I blacked out during travel, woke up outside the city, and they took me in. What about you?”

“I actually landed in Equestria,” I say, taking a chair and sitting down. “I’ve been living in a small town named Ponyville since the second or third day we got here.”

“What about everyone else? Do you know anything about where they are?”

“Sort of,” I droop my head a little. “I don’t know anything about Jay or Dick. Nadiya’s dead.”

“What?” he yells. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I start moving my fingers restlessly, trying to take my mind off of her. “I buried her in the pony capitol city yesterday.”

He sighs, then falls backwards onto a sofa. “How did she die?”

“Not exactly sure, but it wasn’t caused by someone else. Turns a bunch of Griffons found her in some god-forsaken wasteland a few days ago.”

“Man.” He runs his fingers through his hair, which I now realize is a lot longer than when we came here. I also notice his beard for the first time, which makes him look even more unkempt. I guess not everyone got their own Rarity to happily do their hair, and much less happily simply cut it without giving them a completely new hairdo.

“You want to come live in Ponyville?” I offer. “One of my friends is close to the princess, I’m sure they could get you a house. It’s how I got mine.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve already got a fairly decent life here in Minos.”

“Decent if you like gray,” I joke. We both chuckle a little.

“I’ll admit the color’s a bit boring, but the minotaurs are pretty nice and welcoming. I’m really starting to feel like one of them. Plus, I’m learning so much about them, and in turn I’m teaching them stuff about Earth and mankind.”

“Sounds exactly like what I’m doing in Equestria. Only there, the pony I’m doing it with is a really quick and diligent worker, which is the opposite of me.” I smile, recalling Twilight’s behavior. “We had a system where we’d ask the other a topic, then fill a notebook on everything we knew about it. I’d write all I know about Earth on a particular subject, and she’d write everything about Equestria on another. She’d keep all the notebooks for herself and study them, and I’d just send them through the portal back to the UN so it’d become their problem. She worked so much faster than me, she’d just fill out notebooks in advance and give them to me. I think currently, she’s seventeen ahead of me.”

He laughs for a little bit, then gets serious. “You said that you’d send them through the portal to the UN. Does that mean you know where it is?”

“Oh, yeah!” I say, almost jumping out of the chair. “I forgot to tell you. Twilight helped me recreate the portal to Earth. Direct line from Equestria to the underwater base.”

“I think I’m going to have to come visit you sometime,” he says excitedly.

“Why not now?” I ask. “I sort of stormed out of Equestria after yelling at my friends a lot. They don’t really know where I am. I think it’d be best for me to actually show that I was being productive in my absence.”

“So basically,” he says, jokingly arrogant, “You want to show me off to all your friends?” I shoot him a really dirty look, and he puts his hands up both playfully and defensively. “Fine, fine, I’ll come.” He gets up and walks into another room. “Just let me get a few things packed first.”

He comes back a few minutes later with a full bag. “Ready to go?” I ask.

“Definitely,” he laughs. “Minotaurs are nice and all, but all this gray is just making my eyes sick.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I know someone back in Ponyville who would have a heart attack if she saw all this blandness everywhere.”

“Well,” he says, pointing at the train station, “Lead the way to Equestria.”