I sat in silence as my mind jumped back and forth between what just happened and where I was right now. The only sounds were the low rumble of the carriage wheels as we traversed to god knows where. I was put in the carriage on my own and they blocked out the windows. Even though I was now out of that cell, I still felt like a prisoner. Still, I valued the relative peace and quiet. At least it gave me time to think.
“Has this really happened?” I caught myself thinking. “Am I really in this mess?”
The carriage went over a small bump, which briefly snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked down to my hands. Turning them around, my nervousness faded slightly at the familiar sight of my own hands.
“Yes, I am definitely here. I am still me. I’m not going to let this all get to me.” I thought to myself before lifting my gaze with a determined expression. “I will get through this.”
I remained silent as the journey continued. Whatever was waiting for me, I was determined to meet it head on.
“That’s what she said to me, Applejack.” Twilight said plainly. “I have to take care of him and find out as much as I can about him.”
“But if he really is from the badlands, isn’t it a might dangerous to have him around?” Applejack replied.
“Well, supposedly he’s different from the regular badlanders.” Twilight countered before making her way over to a bookshelf. She had recently gone and gathered all of her friends in the library to discuss this new development.
“Perhaps he’s some kind of supermutant!” Pinkie said as she made an ugly face for emphasis.
“Oh, I certainly hope not.” Rarity said with a disgusted expression. “I really don’t like this, Twilight.”
Twilight returned to the group with the book she was looking for. Sitting down at her previous spot, she opened the book before replying.
“Look, we don’t really know anything about him yet. If he’s trouble, we have both the royal guard and the elements of harmony.” She replied whilst flipping through various pages.
“Yeah, well it won't ever get to that. I'll make sure of it.” Rainbow said confidently. Sat next to her, Fluttershy gave out a quiet squeak before hiding behind her mane.
“You OK, shy?” Rainbow asked.
Fluttershy remained silent.
"C'mon, Shy." Rainbow said reassuringly. "You can tell us."
Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Umm....d-does he eat...m-meat?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“Well, normal badlanders are omnivorous.” Twilight replied. “So, I guess if he’s anything like them then yes.”
Twilight noticed Fluttershy shrink a little smaller.
“But don’t worry!” Twilight quickly added. “He’ll be staying in the library and won’t be allowed out without supervision. He’ll be kept far away from your animals.”
Fluttershy didn’t move. Twilight wasn’t sure if Fluttershy was entirely convinced, but she knew she could keep her soon to be visitor under control. She had to.
“This is all mighty weird, Twi” Applejack interjected. “Badlanders usually don’t cross the border. Equestria is a land of law an’ order. The badlands is full of corruption and chaos, from what ah’v heard.”
“Yes, which is why this is quite an interesting development.” Twilight replied. “I’ve never seen a badlander up close before.”
“So, you’re pretty sure he’s from the badlands then?” Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow.
Twilight made a long sigh. “Well, technically we don’t know. But personally, from what I’ve heard from the princess, I don’t see how he can’t be.”
This made everyone in the room give each other nervous glances. Twilight looked around the group before continuing.
“Look girls, the princess has given us this task. We must keep everything under control while we see what we can find out about him. She believes in us. All of us!”
Everyone just sat in silence, exchanging glances to one another.
I heard a stallion from outside call out something. Shortly after, I felt the carriage begin to slow.
"End of the line, I guess."
We had been traveling for, what I thought was, a couple of hours. We had stopped briefly when I requested to, y'know, do my business. But when we stopped and I got out, all I could see was that we were in the middle of the woods.
The door swung open before a guard poked his head in. "Alright, out you get." He said quickly.
I made my way out of the carriage. I stood there, staring at the sight before me. At first glance, it seemed to be some kind of Victorian town. Old fashioned houses along streets lined with market stalls. Stone paths ran various directions throughout the town. I could see various ponies going about their business. That was, until some of them spotted me. Each pony who spotted me stopped in their tracks. They seemed to freeze on the spot with fear. Their eyes darted between me and the guards surrounding me. Some of ponies whispered to each other whilst keeping their eyes locked on me.
It didn't feel encouraging.
“This way.” a voice said behind me. I turned to see a guard gesturing to walk around to the other side of the carriage. As I made my way around, I noticed a rather large tree looming over us. I quickly noticed that the tree had windows and a door in its trunk. Someone lived here.
“Well, I guess I’ve seen stranger things so far” I thought to myself as the guard knocked on the door.
The door opened. There, in the doorway, stood a lavender unicorn.
“Ms Sparkle. We have brought the...uhh...human...to your care.” the guard said.
The unicorn peered around the guard and locked her eyes onto me. Her mouth opened slightly, in what I could only assume to be curiosity.
“Very well.” she said keeping her eyes fixed on me.
The guard turned his head back towards me and gestured for me to move forward. I slowly walked towards the two until I was standing in front of the doorway. I noticed the unicorn take a deep breath before introducing herself.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’ll be taking care of you.” she said plainly.
“I’m Matt.” I replied with a simple nod.
She looked me up and down, noticing the blanket I had wrapped around myself.
“I trust you don’t have anything dangerous hidden under there.” she said with slight suspicion.
“Only the shorts I sleep in. The blanket was because it’s cold.” I replied with a frown.
“He does not have any dangerous items on him, Ms Sparkle. We’ve had him searched before bringing him here.” the guard said.
“Feeling welcome already.” I thought to myself.
“Well, you better come inside. We’ll see what we can do about getting you something better than that blanket.” Twilight said.
I was lead inside as Twilight finalized a few things with the guards. I noticed the room was surrounded by bookcases of various shapes and sizes. I figured that either Twilight was an avid reader, or this was a library. I didn’t notice the five other ponies sat in the middle of the room, all with their eyes fixed on me.
“Thank you, I’ll be sure to keep you posted.” I heard Twilight say to the guard before closing the door. She made her way over to me as I was still taking in my surroundings.
"Well, I suppose I should welcome you to your new home. I can give y-" Twilight trailed off. I followed her gaze and finally laid eyes on the five mares staring at me. I simply looked back at the frozen mares.
"Uhh, these are my friends. They'll be overseeing your stay as well." Twilight said with a slightly nervous tone. "Girls, this is Matt."
"Umm, hi." I said weakly.
Silence.
Twilight's gaze quickly switched between me and her friends. No-one moved a muscle. I could tell out the corner of my eye that she wasn't liking where this was going.
"Oh! Uhh....Rarity!" she said quickly.
Rarity's eyes broke away from me and peered over to Twilight. The rest kept their eyes locked on me.
"Rarity, there's something you could help with if you'd be so kind." Twilight said rubbing the back of her head. "Matt only has this blanket to keep him warm. Do you think you could work on some clothes for him?"
Rarity nodded her head in silence. I wasn’t feeling too comfortable. I could tell the other mares weren’t either so I decided to try and cut this short.
“Umm, Twilight? It was nice meeting you all, but I’m feeling pretty tired. I think it might be best if I get some sleep.” I said. It wasn’t exactly a lie either. After all that’s happened, I felt rather drained.
“Oh, uhh, sure! Let me show you to your room.” she said before leading me away.
I gave one last look at the five mares before they were out of sight.
The five mares sat in silence for a few moments.
“So, whaddya think of him?” Applejack asked Rarity.
“He does show a striking resemblance to the pictures I’ve seen of the badlanders.” Rarity replied. “Making some clothes for him will be an...interesting...task.”
Rainbow flapped her wings and lifted off the ground into a hover. “I don’t trust him.” she said before looking over to the door of the spare bedroom. “Not one bit.”
“Let’s just keep him at hoofs length for the time being.” Rarity said before standing up. “But I’m sure Twilight will keep him on the straight and narrow.”
"Yeah!" Applejack piped up. "An' we gotta make sure to be there for Twi!"
"Absolutely! Cos we're her bestie best friends forever!" Pinkie chirped.
Fluttershy simply gave a silent nod as Rainbow dropped down next to her to give her a reassuring hug.
"Then it's settled. We help Twilight keep Matt out of trouble while she completes her....uhh....mission? Well, I'm sure you know what I mean." Rarity said before making her way to the front door. "Well, darlings. I must be off. I need to check on my supplies if I am to make Matt some clothes."
Rarity gave a wave before leaving through the front door.
"I think we better wait until Twilight gets back. She might need us for something." Rainbow said to the remaining ponies in the group.
After everyone's agreement, they waited in silence for Twilight's return.
I didn't waste any time in getting to bed. I said nothing as I settled into my new room. I had enough of conversations today. I figured, that with any luck, going to sleep would take me back home. It brought me here, right?
Twilight didn't seem to mind. She gave me a a brief tour of my room, which she explained was the spare room of her home. Everything was pretty basic and seemed rarely used. I got into bed and drew the covers over myself. I turned onto my side facing the wall. All I heard was the sound of the door softly open and then close as Twilight left.
My mind cast itself back over the events of the day. It certainly wasn't high on my list of days I considered 'too short'. Now that the day was coming to an end, I felt my determination I formed from the carriage ride slowly fading away. The true weight of the mess I was in started to hone itself in my mind. I felt myself squeeze my eyes shut even tighter.
Never before had I felt so alone.