"High Spirits" preview · 12:35am Jul 13th, 2014
To prove that it's not totally dead in the water (and that I am, in fact, still writing) here's a(n unedited) preview of the next Studies chapter, "High Spirits"
Despite the prospect of exploring the fairy tale land of Equestria, Fiona found herself at the cottage without much to do. She was seated on the couch with a fuzzy white bunny sleeping belly up on her lap, snoring away. She was petting said bunny, feeling the soft warmth of its fur against her hand. But other than that Fiona was very much idle.
Kevin and Fluttershy left earlier that morning when Twilight came to pick them up. They were apparently going to the town library to discuss all sorts of things. Even though she was invited to come along, Fiona instead chose to stay behind at the cottage, doing her utmost to let Kevin go with his pony friends and lose himself in researching for his book. She made the excuse of wanting to help with the animals, explaining that it’d help with her veterinary work back home
That of course couldn’t have been farther from the truth. She wanted nothing more than to be able to keep hanging around him. They hardly had the time to do that back home since they started going out. But Fiona knew Kevin. It wouldn’t be a surprise to her if he'd be too focused on learning about Equestrian history and geography and culture to pay her any mind if she tagged along. Veterinarian sciences she could understand; biology, for the most part, she could follow along just as well. If there was a chance to talk about human pop culture she figured she'd be the center of attention.
She chose not to go, and tried to rationalize her decision. It was enough for her at the moment to simply play around with the friendly critters. These woodland animals’ distant cousins back home would be too spooked by her presence to be so engaging, or prevented from leaving their owners at will. Here in equestria, squirrels, birds, mice and what have you are truly wild and innocently curious about her presence. The novelty of the Snow White setting, however, quickly played out.
With the warmth of the morning sun flooding into the cozy living room, Fiona pondered whether to fix something to eat. She felt her fingers tugged between the bunny's paws and she once more began to softly scratch his tummy.
Combing a strand of hair back with her free hand, Fiona heard a quick set of knocks at the front door. Not even a moment passed after she heard a set of knocks on the front door when it opened. A pink pony strolled into the cottage, calling out, "Fluttershy, you in here? I need to borrow your bear friend for a prank I just thought up and-" She stopped and paused to look at the human girl sitting on the couch nearby. "Hey!" Pinkie Pie chirped as she watched the human set Angel Bunny onto the couch and scramble to her two feet. Hopping over so she stood right in front of the taller guest, Pinkie asked with her bright blue eyes beaming up in expectation toward the biped, "What 'cha doin?"
"[Uh...]" Fiona blinked in surprise, not able to remember what it was that Kevin said was Equestrian for 'Hello'. She nervously smiled and chuckled out, "[Hi there.]" Fiona added a dainty wave before letting her hand hang against her side once more.
Pinkie's eyes widened at the unexpected gesture from Kevin's girlfriend and beamed in glee. "Hi there!" she said, waving back with her hoof. She hopped up and down, watching as the human's eyes followed her movement. With a giggle the pony ceased her hopping and next asked, "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a really pretty smile? Oh, where are my manners? I'm Pinkie Pie!"
Fiona stared back and strained to keep smiling, a bit more unsure of how to respond. [You...don't understand what I'm saying, do you?]" While Fluttershy and Twilight both seemed to be well versed in speaking English, and Rarity had the use of magic, it was a bit unsettling how different the ponies were when faced with a situation where communication was pretty limited. The pink pony before her, for example, remained nervously excited while trying to speak with her, though not with much success. It was at that point that Fiona felt a bit of surprise at herself to expect that every pony she'd meet would somehow know English, and was a bit perturbed for acting the stereotypical American abroad.
Fiona thought for a moment, then finally decided to put all her years of Charades to practice.
And now for something completely different
