//------------------------------// // Treading lightly // Story: Disharmony // by Pyrus_uk //------------------------------// I awoke slowly in my bed. I yawned quietly as I kept my eyes shut against the assaulting sunlight through the gap in the curtains. I rolled onto my back and sat up. As I brought my head out of the sunlight, I groggily opened my eyes. I immediately recognised the room I was in. I was still in Twilight’s home. I felt a pang of disappointment at knowing my plan didn’t work. I admit, it wasn’t much of a plan but it was something. “Looks like I’m still stuck here.” Swivelling myself around, I dangled my legs off the side of the bed. As I rubbed my eyes, I took a deep breath through my nose and noticed a rather welcomed aroma. I stumbled out of bed and opened the door. I took a long sniff of the glorious smell. I didn’t see anyone around. I assumed the others must have gone home after I went to bed. I shuffled across the room to where I thought the smell was coming from. I couldn’t help dragging my feet as I made my way over. I’m definitely not a morning person. I found myself in the doorway of what I could only assume to be the kitchen. Inside, I saw Twilight sitting at the dining table. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was the small purple dragon standing on a stool next to the stove...cooking. Twilight looked up from the newspaper she was reading and noticed me standing in the doorway. “Oh! Good morning, Matt.” she said with a slightly sleepy tone. The purple dragon looked over at me with a cautious expression. I gazed back at him, which Twilight seemed to notice. “Oh, right. Matt, this is Spike. He’s my assistant." she said, before noticing my hesitation. "I assume you haven’t seen a dragon before.” I shook my head in response before Twilight looked over to the young dragon. “Spike, this is Matt. He’s the human that will be staying with us.” I figured I better say something instead of standing there like an idiot. “Hi, Spike. Nice to meet you.” I said with a nod. “And good morning to you, Twilight.” “Uhh, hi. Nice to meet you too.” He said back to me. Twilight gave a small yawn. “Best greeting I’ve had so far.” I thought to myself jokingly. Spike returned to cooking as I remained in the doorway. “Would you like to sit down? Spike’s fixing breakfast.” Twilight said. Right on cue, my stomach gave a loud rumble. I clasped my hands over my stomach in a vain attempt to muffle the sounds. “Of course. I haven’t eaten since I got here. I guess, after everything that happened yesterday, hunger was the last thing on my mind.” I thought to myself as I took a seat across from Twilight. Twilight seemed to be transfixed on me. She had completely lost interest in her newspaper and didn’t even notice the stack of pancakes Spike had just set down in front of her. I caught her gaze and gave her a questioning look. She noticed before breaking her gaze away. “Oh, umm...w-what do you, y’know...eat?” she asked. The aroma was really getting to me now. My eyes drifted to the stack of pancakes in front of Twilight. “Well, those pancakes look pretty good.” I said. “Great!” she said cheerfully. “Spike, could you please make Matt some?” “Sure.” he said from the stove. I placed my elbows on the table and rested my head on my hands. Gazing down at the table in front of me, I thought about what I was going to do. I had to figure out what happened to me. I needed to find a way to get back home but all of this was just too surreal. I didn’t know where to start. My eyes lifted back up to Twilight, who had started munching away on her pancakes. Her horn was lit up as the knife and fork in front of her levitated around, picking up pieces of pancake before placing it in her mouth. I raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but considering everything I’d seen so far, I figured I would just accept these odd things. For now, at least. As I watched her, I realised then what was my best lead. “I don't think I'm going to be able do this on my own.” I thought to myself. “I need help.” A fresh plate of pancakes set down in front of me snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Spike standing next to me with a slightly proud expression. “Oh, uhh, thanks Spike.” I said as I looked down at the pancakes. I won’t lie, they looked amazing. Spike gave me a nod before heading back to the stove to begin cooking his own. I picked up the knife and fork and took my first mouthful. It was legendary. "Bloody hell!" I thought as I chewed. "Did Liam Neeson take a load of pancake mix and cook it with Morgan Freeman’s voice? Dragon's got skills." The entire stack was gone in about a minute. I leant back in my chair, rubbing my now satisfied stomach. I looked over to Spike. “I gotta say Spike, you’re quite the cook. Those were amazing.” I said after finishing my last mouthful. Spike turned back to me with a smile. “Hey, thanks!” I looked back to Twilight, who quickly looked away from me when I made eye contact. She suddenly went back to reading her newspaper. I noticed a quill, enshrouded in a lavender glow, scribbling away on some parchment next to her. I shrugged as I resumed rubbing my stomach. We had finished breakfast about half an hour ago. Twilight had gone off to have a shower as Spike started his daily chores. Twilight had explained that I was not to go outside without her. Something about not causing a panic with the other locals. I wasn’t really all that surprised, so I decided to stay downstairs and wait for her to return. I had a small chat with Spike as he cleaned some shelves that were next to me. Nothing too deep. I quickly got the sense that he was quite young as he seemed a lot less wary around me than the others I'd met so far. Or maybe it was because I complimented his cooking, I dunno. He explained that this was indeed a library, which both he and Twilight ran for the townsfolk. I did think that there were a rather large amount of books here to be a normal house. It wasn’t long before Spike had wandered off to finish is chores, leaving me on my own. I sat in silence for about ten minutes. “Bored now.” I stood up and made my way to a bookcase. Eyeing a random book, I pulled it out and read the cover. “The social structure of the modern Griffin Kingdom – Third Edition” I read back to myself in my head. “Griffins too?” I flipped open the book and began reading the abstract. I had got about halfway through the first page when I heard a voice from above. “So, you like reading?” I looked up to see Twilight peering over the banister. She had her head tilted to the side in a curious manner. “Uhh, not usually, no.” I replied back up to her. "Just figured I'd try to pass the time while I waited." "Oh, well I'll be down in a minute." she said as she wiped one of he ears with a towel. "Please put that book back where you found it when you're done." "Hmm, she seemed disappointed." I thought as I watched her disappear away from the banister. I sat down in one of the chairs and continued reading. Twilight made her way over to her bedroom desk. It was littered with various books and parchment from her seemingly never ending study work. She brought out her quill from the ink-pot and levitated over a familiar piece of parchment. She quickly began scribbling: 'Appears to know how to read, although claims to not do so regularly.' She quickly scanned the entire page from top to bottom. It was filled with quick one liners about what she had observed of her new visitor. She had scribbled down everything she had picked up on. From physical attributes to general behavior, it was all there. She smiled as she noticed she had already nearly filled her first page. "It's still only early morning. I wonder how much I'll have discovered when the day is done." she thought to herself as she set the parchment back down. Eager to get on with the day, she quickly finished drying her mane and gave herself a once over in the mirror. She grabbed her saddlebag and levitated the parchment and various writing equipment into it. After all, she was never one to be unprepared. She took one last look in the mirror. Satisfied with her appearance, she trotted out of her bedroom and made her way back downstairs. I heard Twilight's bedroom door open from above me. I closed the book and set it back on the shelf. I hadn't read all that much in the short time-frame I had. Still, it turned out to be much more interesting that I thought. I suppose reading about things in the strange new world you're suddenly living in would be interesting, even to someone who didn't enjoy reading. Twilight rounded the corner at the bottom of the steps and made her way over to me. "Ok, so I think Rarity will want to see you if she's going to be making some clothes for you." she said. "This will be her first time creating clothes for a Human." "No surprises there." I replied. "Lemme just grab my blanket." I quickly made my way back to my room. The blanket was right where I left it, on the floor. Grabbing it and wrapping it around myself, I returned to Twilight. "Ready" I said. With a nod, Twilight's horn glowed and the front door opened. We made our way out the front door. The sunlight immediately blinding me before I raised my arm to block it. When my eyes adjusted, I took a look around. I could see pretty much the same scene as yesterday. Ponies filled the streets going about their daily lives. Market stalls lined the edges of the streets. Twilight began walking to which I quickly followed. “Probably best if I stay close to Twilight. Don’t want to cause a fuss.” I thought to myself as we made our way down the street. Ponies watched me with curiosity as we walked by. Some ushered their kids inside. I noticed how many more mares there were to stallions. Sure, there were a few stallions here and there but it seemed the mares still had them outnumbered. “I wonder why that – OW!” I felt a sharp pain from my left foot. I quickly realised I had stepped on a small sharp pebble. I grabbed my bare foot with my hands and began hopping on the spot. Twilight stopped and looked back, noticing my discomfort. “Hey, are you ok?” she asked. I inhaled sharply through gritted teeth. “Ahhh, I think so. Just a sharp stone.” I said as I rubbed my foot. Luckily, it wasn’t bleeding. “You think Rarity will be able to make me some shoes?” “Of course. She’ll be able to help you.” she said as she levitated a quill and parchment out of her saddle bag. I released my foot as she scribbled something down. “Ready?” she asked as she put her quill and parchment back in her bag. I nodded before we continued on our way. It wasn’t long before we arrived at Rarity’s boutique. I must admit, it looked very flamboyant. Twilight went up to the door and opened it. The bell above the door made a soft jingle as we entered. “~Cooooming~” I heard a voice sing from the next room. Twilight and I both waited patiently by the front door as we heard various crashes and bangs from the next room. A few moments later, Rarity appeared. “Oh, good morning. Perfect timing!” she said. “I have just acquired the materials I’ll need for these new clothes.” I could tell she was fairly well spoken. Sort of had a posh element to it. She made her way over to Twilight and gave her a hug in greeting. “Tell me, darling. How’s my Spikey wikey doing? I was hoping to see him last night, but he wasn't around. He hasn't visited me in ages either.” Twilight released the hug. “Oh, he’s doing just fine. He’s been a bit busy of late but he certainly hasn’t forgotten about you. I’m sure he’ll visit you again soon.” she replied. “Wonderful. As much as he’s your assistant, I do love having him around.” Rarity said with a chuckle. Twilight gave her a smile. “He met Matt this morning.” she said gesturing over to me. Rarity looked over to me with a neutral expression. “Oh? I hope they got along.” “I’m right here y’know.” I thought “They did actually.” Twilight said with a smile. "Matt seemed to like Spike's cooking at least." After a brief pause, Rarity cleared her throat before making her way over to me. “I feel I must apologise for my...uhh...reserved nature last night.” she said. “That was most unbecoming of a lady, such as myself. I’ve never seen someone of your kind before.” I raised my eyebrows at the unexpected apology. “Uhh, no problem.” Rarity gave a small smile. “So, I take it you're hear to get some of my exquisite clothing made for you. Do you wear clothes often?” “Pretty much all the time actually. Gets quite cold otherwise.” I replied, gesturing to the blanket I had wrapped around myself for emphasis. I figured it would be best to leave the vulnerability part out. In the corner of my eye, I could see Twilight scribbling on that parchment again. “Well, we can’t have you wandering around with that blanket then, can we?” Rarity said. “Plus, this will be a fantastic opportunity to fashion something new into my line of great works!” “Uh-huh” I replied dumbly. To be honest, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. But I needed clothes. Badly. “Ah, but the journey of a thousand miles and all that.” she said. “We must get you measured!” Rarity led me to the corner of the room as Twilight took a seat on the sofa next to the front door. Rarity had me stand on a small stool. I wondered how she was going to measure me as I was now towering over her. My question was answered when I saw her horn light up as various pieces of small equipment began floating all around me. I flinched as a measuring tape floated past my face. “Gonna take a while to get used to that.” I thought as my eyes darted between the small objects hovering all around me. “Now, please remove that blanket. I can’t get the measurements I need with you wrapped up in that thing.” Rarity said with a professional tone. I gave a small sigh before dropping the blanket on the floor. Thankfully, I still had my shorts. “And the shorts.” she said. “Oh god no.” I coughed awkwardly. I made no movement to my guardian shorts. “Well?” she said, trying to maintain her patience. “I’m not taking these off.” I said quickly. Rarity narrowed her eyes before giving me a glare. “Why?” she said simply, holding her stare. “I’m not standing naked in front of you. Or anyone for that matter!” I replied. Twilight walked over. “Is there a problem with you being naked?” I scoffed. “Yeah! A huge problem! We don’t do that.” “Why not?” they both asked in unison. I facepalmed. “It’s just not something we Humans do. We rarely ever strip down completely, unless we’re cleaning ourselves or...y’know...doing other stuff.” I said a little awkwardly. I never really thought I’d be having this conversation in my lifetime. They both gave each other questioning glances before Rarity piped up. “Oh fine. I suppose I’ll have to make a rough estimation for those parts.” Twilight hastily made her way back to the sofa where she wasted no time in scribbling down more notes. “Damn, does that girl ever stop writing? I mean, what is she ev-“ A floating clipboard whizzing past my face interrupted my thoughts. “Right then, let’s get started.” Rarity said, bringing a pair of overly-feminine glasses to her eyes. She had been at it for about twenty five minutes, levitating the measuring tape around various parts of my body before noting down numbers on her clipboard. I complied with her requests, most of which revolved around moving an arm or a leg so she could get her measuring done accurately. To be honest though, I was already bored of this within the first five minutes. “-and that’s there....well that won’t work.....but maybe....oh yes-“ she mumbled to herself as she worked. I rolled my eyes as she examined my right elbow. Earlier, she had taken a particular interest with my feet. She kept inspecting them at different angles and elevations. I found it a little creepy but I kept quiet since I knew I was in desperate need of shoes. I figured the more she knew about my feet, the more comfortable the shoes would be. “Done!” she said. “Oh...cool.” I said lamely. “You can sit over there if you like.” she said, gesturing over to the sofas. “Twilight, darling! Might I have a word?” “Sure.” Twilight replied from across the room. Grabbing my blanket from the floor, I made my way back over to the sofas where Twilight was sitting. We passed each other as we traded places. As I sat down, Rarity led Twilight into the other room. I immediately stood back up. “Thank god for bare feet. Best for sneaking.” I thought as I crept over to the door-frame. They had left the door slightly ajar. I leaned over and listened in to the conversation they were having on the other side. “Yes, I have all the measurements and materials I think I’ll need for him. Even those shoes you said he needs. But they won’t be done until tomorrow.” Rarity said. “OK, thanks.” Twilight replied. “Is this going to be difficult? I don’t want to trouble you too much.” “Well, his figure is very different to what I’m used to. But I’m sure I can manage. To be honest darling, I’m more concerned about you.” Rarity said. There was a slight pause. “How are you finding him?” Rarity asked in a hushed tone which I could barely hear. “Well, there have been no problems yet. I’ve been collecting notes on him since early this morning. All of this is extremely interesting and I’m learning so much.” Twilight said. “So that’s what she’s been doing.” I thought. “But as far as his behaviour goes, he’s actually been pretty docile. This may be easier than I thought!” she continued. I frowned at that. I didn’t realise I was under study. “Well, he does seem quite calm. But he might just be trying to give a decent first impression. Please, be careful." Rarity pleaded. "Oh, don't think I'm not keeping my guard up. But until he does something, I'm going to learn as much as I can about him. Celestia will have a complete research paper on him, mark my words." Twilight said proudly. "And I will make sure he has a stunning set of clothes to wear. Oh, I have so many ideas I want to try. It's such a unique opportunity!” Rarity said back. “I’m sure they’ll look great. I can’t think of anypony better for the job!” Twilight replied cheerfully. "Quite full of ourselves, aren't we?" I thought as I rolled my eyes before continuing to listen in. “Aww, thank you darling.” Rarity replied. “Now, I best get to work.” That was my cue. I hastily crept back to the sofa. Not long after I sat down, the door to the room they were in opened. “Thanks again, Rarity.” Twilight said as she left the room. “Anytime! Ta Ta!” I heard Rarity call out from inside. Twilight made her way over to me. She didn’t seem to suspect a thing. "Rarity's going to need to time to get your clothes done, so I'm afraid we'll have to come back tomorrow" she said. "I didn't really expect my clothes to be done by today. It's nice of her to make them for me, though." I replied. I wasn't feeling too cheerful after what I'd heard, but I had to keep up the neutral appearance. "She's like that." Twilight waved off. "Speaking of which, she said you can have these." she said, levitating out what appeared to be some leather material all wrapped up in a ball. "What are they?" I asked. "Foot-wraps. They're not much but they should protect your feet somewhat." Twilight replied. "At least until you get your shoes tomorrow." I sighed. Picking the floating pile of leather cloths out of the air, I quickly noticed how uncomfortable they were going to be. "Better than nothing." I thought to myself. "I should probably be grateful." "Thanks." I said before beginning the tedious task of trying to get them on my feet. "I figured we could go see Applejack now. I think it would be best for you to meet my friends again. Y'know, to keep chipping away at the ice." Twilight said to me as I finished the first foot. "Why Applejack?" I asked. "Well, it's nearly noon. She'll be getting ready for her lunch break." she replied. "She's a little hard to find during work hours." "Fair enough." I said as I finished securing the last foot-wrap. "Ready to go." "Follow me." Twilight said before leading me out the front door. As we left and began walking down the road, I thought over my plan. "I still need their help. Twilight can make as many notes about me as she likes. It may even pay off for me when I need her help later down the line." I gave a small sigh as I looked up at the sky. "This'll be the most fragile time, I bet. I'll need to get on good terms with these Ponies if I am to make any progress finding a way home." I looked down at the foot-wraps on my feet. "For better or for worse."