Cinnamon's Journal

by Mocha Star

First Day

Amber woke me up a couple times in the night because there were other Ford’s driving around the streets at night and she could hear them because some of them were as loud as monsters and one sounded like it was farting. That one I got up for and was going to check on the foals but Amber reminded me it was just another Ford outside.

The noises here are gonna take awhile to get used to. There’s no clopping of hooves, no squeaking of wagon wheels, no peaceful silence besides the wind in the night. The world even feels to move differently and when we woke up today we noticed it a lot more since there’s no natural magic to fill us Amber cast a levitation spell on us and we felt better but we weren’t going to do that again.

We couldn’t rely on her magic to get us by and it would help us appreciate Equestria more when we go back.

What happened was just that we were more tired than we usually were, but it was noticeable enough to worry Amber and I. After we helped each other go to the toilet we went down stairs and while Amber started a breakfast I decided I’d go for a trot and see the area. We weren’t told not to!

I started from our house and decided a lap around the block would be a great start and began southward. It was bitterly cold and my scarf did nothing to help but I knew a good pace would warm me up and I made it to the first corner and turned left. There wasn’t a single human to be seen on my whole lap. I didn’t even see another Ford anywhere that was being used.

I got back to our door and wasn’t feeling exercised yet so I took another three laps around the block before I felt the cold freezing the lather on my body so I went in the house and collapsed inside the doorway once it closed and everypony and our helpers came to help me and they said I was too cold and Amber calmed the helpers while she picked me up and took me to the bathtub before I became hypothermic.

I didn’t feel that bad while I was trotting but the warmth of the house helped me understand the cold that was outside. It had snowed a little but I didn’t see anything wrong with that but I found out from Written Letter that the temperature scale they use is similar to Celestia Standard called Celsius. It was -20 degrees C!

They have to warn us about that because I didn’t know that. I would have worn more layers for my trot had I known. She put me in a cool shower and joined me, rubbing me with her hooves until I warmed enough for the water to be warmed up and then she washed me properly. The shower wasn’t large enough for us all to fit, but the children could go as a group and Amber and I could go together.

Our helpers were worried and said they had called a doctor, named Vet, that had experience with equines and they said that Amber was doing what was right and that if anything else happened to call another person named Vet. It must be a doctor title here. Anyway, after the shower I felt a lot better and kind of in the mood for sex so when I asked Amber the helpers left quickly and Amber shook her head and hushed me. She had a feeling sex was taboo on this world so we couldn’t just talk about it or have sex just out of the way. We’d have to be discreet like at a party or something.

I guess that made sense since humans seem to be a lot more reserved than ponies. We helped each other dry off with some nice towels that were our colors and made it easy to tell who had what because hers was a dark amber color and mine was brown. They were very fluffy and when we got out of the bathroom the children were ready to take their turn and asked if I was better.

I told them I was, but I still wanted some sex and Lilli said she could help and I scolded her. She’s not only too young but is direct family. I was glad she didn’t have her pendant on or the helpers would have understood her and that might have been uncomfortable since everything seemed to be taboo to these creatures.

But, these are the only people we’ve really met so we can’t judge them all based on a couple of them, so we decided that sex was not going to be discussed anymore and then let the children into the bathroom and went down to breakfast.

Oats, a small fruit salad, juice, and coffee awaited me and I gobbled it up quickly. I didn’t realize how hungry I was, but I think the long night plus the cold exercise had made me hungrier than I’d thought. Amber ate quietly and refined like while the helpers chose to pass on the meal and we saved their plates for the children while making one more for Timber.

They came to breakfast still damp and Amber scolded them this time for not drying properly and they apologized but had gotten hungry after sex in the shower and I facehoofed and Amber groaned loudly and the helpers gasped. They had their pendants on so we had to explain that they were just learning and wouldn’t get pregnant so there wasn’t any reason to worry but Amber and I were taken aside and told that youth having sex wasn’t okay with humans so if it’s our culture we’d have to keep it secret.

We understood because a lot of cultures had their customs that were weird or taboo to others like how gryphons would kill deer or ponies that wandered into their territories and would share the… kill with their families and no pony would know who it was but the gryphons would send some bones back to the nearest pony police station as a warning but no pony could ever know what the warning was or where the boundaries were.

That’s why ponies travel in groups with written letters from guards or government to pass but will still be hassled by mean gryphons or have to pay a fee to some others.

After breakfast and explanations were over we had a talk with the children that sex was taboo here and that if they had any they couldn’t talk about it outside the house and if they did it’d have to be in Equestrian, and by no means were they to have it in any public place!

They nodded and understood and Blueberry rolled his eyes and told us that he was over practicing ever since he became a teen and already was having mares in the streets offering themselves to him. I was upset hearing that because he probably had been with a few random mares but we didn’t want to have that talk until later, especially since we weren’t going to be around horny females for a long time.

Human sex was a curiosity so we were really excited to learn about it, but we chose to ask later. A lot later.

We bundled up and left the house and the area was more alive than it was and there were Fords being used and they were all different shapes and sizes and they had a lot of the same road rules as we did in Equestria so I guess logic is logic. Amber helped Timber into our Ford and then Lilli before climbing in herself and then we were taken to the police department to meet some important police officers then we had our pictures taken because they said if anything happened to us they needed photographs of us.

We had our pictures taken when we’d first crossed over after we got the children together and calmed down. I was very happy to have met them and then they took us into the basement and showed us how some of their weapons worked, just for fun.

They have a projectile weapon called a gun that is very loud and can kill a pony in a single shot and a weapon that’s like a lightning spell that Amber knows. I volunteered and it was a lot like the spell she used sometimes in bed, only stronger and I fell over and twitched and the children laughed while Amber told them to turn it up.

It was a very funny moment for everypony except me, because I was the one that was shocked. There wasn’t any damage done, but I was kind of aroused and was glad I was wearing my tunic or else the people would have seen my penis extend and that would have been very embarrassing because I’d be breaking their taboo.

After I relaxed a little and was okay to walk normally again we left the police station with a donut for each of us and went to see the town. The first thing we did was just rode around and looked at the streets and asked questions as we went. Written Letter listened but was in the back row of seats with the younger children and just kept an eye on them because they were too excited and kept pawing at the windows and screaming and playing around.

I had to lie to them to have them calm down by telling them they wouldn’t get any dessert after lunch if they didn’t stop. They listened and Amber nuzzled me and told me I was a smart father for thinking of that on the spot because they were becoming out of hoof. We rode in Ford for a while before we stopped at a light and another Ford stopped next to us and Amber opened the window with the window switch and said hello to the people in the next wagon over.

The people overreacted a bit, I think, because they started yelling to each other and finally opened their window to take photos of her inside our Ford before our helpers rolled the windows up and began to drive Ford ahead again and Amber took off her pendant and began talking about how silly the humans were and how simple they must be but Written Letter and I told her to stop insulting them in Equestrian and that we’d have a hard time making friends if she talked like that about them and began to think that about them.

They were allowing us to stay here, after all. But I didn’t want to remind her of that, so I just pointed to her pendant and frowned at her until she put it back on. We drove to a barn as large as some towns, I swear it was! We opened Ford’s door and all hopped out and it wasn’t AS cold as it was in the morning but we kept on our cloaks and scarves because a single gust of wind can change everything.

When we gathered and took in the location of Ford so we could find it later we began to walk to the entrance of the barn that turned out to be a marketplace named Walls Mart. People were looking at us a lot when we were walking in and an older woman screamed when we crossed in through the outer doors because she wasn’t expecting to see five ponies. She didn’t wait for our apology or explanation and left the other sliding door and was gone.

Our helpers told us to not worry and this was just to teach us how to shop and Written Letter nuzzled Timber who asked why she was so scared of us. We got a couple carts and they’re not very pony friendly because they’re so tall and we’re only kinda tall if we stand on our hind hooves we’re as tall as the average human mare woman.

Our helper, Merry, took a cart and put the foals into it and pushed that one while us larger ponies walked beside a cart pushed by Brent. His name is Brent, not Brint. We’re studying, see! We got a lot of looks and I kind of felt like a star that everyone had to see to believe because a lot of people would follow us from aisle to aisle and take our pictures and I could tell they couldn’t believe they were really seeing us.

The foals waved while Blueberry took a more prance to his step and I had to remind him human women didn’t find ponies sexy, no matter how high they held their tails or how large their penises are. He wasn’t deterred and made a point to go to one woman that was taking a photograph of us on her fohn and asked her name and if she liked homemade salads and then started talking about how I was a world famous chef in Equestria and I wanted to die of embarrassment but Mom stepped in and pulled his ear with her magic and scolded him quietly in Equestrian before excusing our son from their conversation and rejoining us.

Blueberry turned a little purple with his blush but I think it put him in his place. We walked the isles and there were canned foods just like at any grocery store so we gathered what we’d need for a day and were told to buy for the week since it would be too much to come to Walls Mart everyday. We asked a couple questions about what the meats were and everyone was surprised we wanted to know and I think everyone was relaxed when we found out that equine weren’t eaten hardly at all on the planet, especially in Mareica. I like the way these people respect us by not eating our dumb cousins.

We left the meat area and went to cheeses and then eggs and got enough to last two weeks! It stays fresher here with their electric iceboxes so we went a little heavy on cheese and bread. Then we got some various candies and chocolates from the sweets aisle before moving on to shoes, just for fun. There were diapers and baby clothes, human baby clothes, that wouldn’t help us at all, but the diapers might be useful if Timber wets the bed from nerves.

We’ll keep that in mind, but mares and shoes? It has to happen, I guess. The common human shoes seem to be what we’d pay top bits for during winter. Brand name stuff, too! I was expecting to see Rarity’s cutie mark stamped on the sole of some of them but they just had tread. Some were made from hide, so that was enough to keep me from trying any on but the girls didn’t care because they were having fun so we waited until they’d found several pairs that matched and they could wear through winter and that were made from cloth.

We passed the technology center and Blueberry was lost there for a minute before we decided that we’d be here all day if we chose to look at everything they had and they’d have more when we came back next time. He was sad, but understood and we went through the toys aisles and let the foals play with some of the human toys and Blueberry was very interested in some of the fluffy dolls they had. He liked one that was like a puppy the most and it was a cute yellow so we got it for him.

Each of the children picked out three toys for their room and then we went on to the books and were very disappointed because there weren’t many but there were some that would help us learn English, the local human language, so we put those in the cart with the foals and they looked at a book while we looked at whatever we passed.

A herd of ponies could build a town with the tools and equipment they had here, and there are places that are just as large and are markets only for building houses so this town could build a whole pony town! It’s incredible to think about and I like building stuff almost as much as I like cooking so maybe I can help build a human house and see how our homes compare.

We went through another aisle that was full of towels and mats and bought several fun and fluffy towels and some sticky things so our hooves wouldn’t slip on the bathtub floor and then we went through the pets aisle.

It was okay, mostly for cats and dogs. I wanted to get a fun chew toy that was made for a dog so I got three and told the foals to have fun while we shopped and they chewed on them for a long time making fun squeaking noises. We got bathroom stuff like toothpaste and toothbrushes for us all, a lot of shampoo and conditioner, several brushes, and Amber got some makeup to see how it worked on ponies.

We also got a couple nail files since we’d need to care for our hooves until we got to a ferrier and I was pretty good at hygene.

We went to a long line and waited for a very long time and we kept asking why there weren’t more merchants at their stalls and we were told that that was how it is at Walls Mart, never enough checker outers. We made small talk with people around us and we told them we were real ponies from Equestria and that we were here for a year.

They hoped we were going to survive the winter and I didn’t know what to say so I just told them that we were weather tough ponies and they laughed. We laughed too since it was a funny thing to say.

We had our pictures taken more and we have our autographs to a few people that had paper and … ink pencils? Pencil quills?

They were impressed with our mouth writing but when Amber took one in her magic everyone was amazed and asked her to start lifting other things.

She politely declined since she didn't want to be a sideshow act and our helpers showed us how to use a plastic rectangle to purchase our items because human money is more complicated and the rectangle, a credit card, holds the human money.

It's complicated but I'll figure it out soon. I like learning about trade, outs in my nomadic blood.

Everyone wished us well and we left the walls
Walls Mart with our helpers and they loaded our purchased goods into Ford and we all got in and talked all the way back to our home about shopping at the market and how different it was from a normal pony market.

When we got back to our home we went in and met our neighbors and they were very friendly and gave us a book called The Bible and said they would like to talk with us about it.

We were a little nervous because it was a religion and we weren't too big on that. Celestia didn't like to be thought of as a goddess even though she technically is and we don't have to worship her which is nice.

We just appreciate all she does to run our nation and raise the sun to keep harmony with the night.

After we said our goodbyes to our neighbors who were named Lynn and Monica we unloaded our groceries and our helpers gave us each a fohn and told us all we had to do was talk to them and they'd help us.

Our computers were connected to the human internet and when we were alone we took off our pendants and talked about telling our neighbors that we didn't really want to read their book.

Also we couldn't read human yet so it wouldn't really work too well for us to discuss it when we didn't know about it.

Amber said she would humor them for a while and maybe if it turned out to be a good book then we'd all go over it together. We all agreed it was a good idea and went to the TV and watched a couple human shows.

Humans talk with a lot of grunts in their words, which is easy for us to do but they can't whinney so we can't either. We have learned some basic human customs are a lot like ponies, too.

Like hoof bumping and greeting each other with a smile. Amber said that if she was going to be here she'd have to use her magic less because humans flocked her when she signed her name but didn't when she ate the pizza with her mouth like she always does.

After we watched TV some we took time to write about our days in our journals before it was time to start lunch.

Amber started the salad while me and Blueberry made drinks of fresh juice and helped open a can of beans that were way too watery for our salad but Amber used before I could stop her.

Timber and Lilli played in the living room and came promptly when we called them to eat.

We all washed our hooves properly and I thought about filling my hooves tonight after our meal.

We talked and laughed while we ate and all helped clean up before Blueberry went into the computer and started talking to it in Equestrian and was embarrassed when we have him a pendant.

After that we practiced our human writing and speaking for a couple hours since the human internet wasn't in contact with Princess Twilight’s Stratonet.

We didn't know what to really do before super since it was a few hours away so we decided we’d go for a walk around the area and look at the local sites. We made certain to bring our coats and scarves and we left the house after saying goodbye to Lynn and Monica and letting them know we were going out. It’s always safest to tell your neighbors you’re leaving incase something happens or somepony comes by looking for you.

We went a few blocks and didn’t really see anything besides more houses and so many wagons Fords being driven by people that would stop to look and take photographs of us. One person shouted hello to us from a red light and we greeted them back. They were nice and greeted us to earth and Grand Forks before closing their window and driving away. We read some of the street signs but the didn’t mean anything to us because even though we could read the words the translation didn’t carry over well. Or maybe they did and we just couldn’t understand… I’ll have to talk with somehuman about it.

We turned a corner and then found a park behind a fence that was open so we let the children play there for a little while, there wasn’t any grass to sit on and we didn’t want to freeze our docks, so we waited while Lilli and Timber played on the human playground. It was similar to a pony playground but there wasn’t much area to run around in and the fence made it feel kind of closed off.

I think human children don’t know that Ford’s are dangerous so that’s why the playgrounds are fenced in behind metal that looks like chicken wire. I really don’t think this is a chicken playground, after all.

The children finally got thirsty so we started back home and when we got there Amber took them inside to get them fresh water. I’m glad they have working tap water, otherwise sharing a well would become a bother. Small towns like Ponyville use wells still but once it grows into a city they’ll need proper and more practical ways to get water.

We went the other way down our street and were pleased to see some cobblestone streets and not just the weird rocky roads humans used for driving Ford’s around. We crossed a street and started walking down the road and a small Ford honked at us so we moved aside and waved it by. The driver was surprised to see we were smart, I guess, because she stopped her Ford to take photographs of us and then another Ford honked at her and she started to move again.

We’re getting used to the attention and Amber had taken a hat to cover her horn because she didn’t want to have to worry about being gawked at on such a cold day. We were just warm enough from our walking and coats and scarves, but we weren’t really seeing anything yet so we turned to go back home.

The rest of the evening we studied more about human culture and tried to figure out how our calendars matched up, but it was off just enough to not work and when we figured out our ages on earth we were all younger than we should have been. Amber said she liked earth more because of that but I don’t think she needs to be younger to be beautiful.

Supper finally came and we took off our pendants and tried talking in English and we were pretty bad and couldn’t understand each other well and we kept looking into our dictionaries but we were learning what foods were called and translated them to Equestrian and back to English until we knew how to say everything that was on our plates and in our cups… at least I think we learned them well enough.

We played some cards games since human numbers were simple to learn and their cards only went to ten with some letter cards and they have the same four suits, so that made it easier to play go fish and pinochle with the foals. We helped the foals with their homework because we forgot to do it while we were learning about earth and even though we’re here now Equestrian studies are still important.

We all took our turns in the shower and I told the children to make sure to wash under their tails and inside their ears and not to use the bathtub as a toilet.

We tucked the little ones in while Blueberry went onto the computer and started talking to it and asking it questions about what to do for fun in our new city.

Amber and I went to the living room to watch more TV and learn what we could by watching different shows but a lot of them were too violent or confusing for us so we looked until we found a show about humans that dress their foals like princesses and parade them around like show ponies. Diamonds and Tiara’s, I think was the show name and we watched it and talked in bed about how we might have to do that with our children if it’s human culture to show children off like they were playing princess.

Tomorrow will be another day, though.

I’ve never written so much in a journal, so I think I’ll summarize from now on because I don’t think everything needs to be written down, except for when I write Princess Twilight Sparkle. She wants to know everything so I’ll do my best for her.

Comments

[HB_DS2013]

I know that if I was in Cinnamon's place, I would be surprised by all the culture shock in Equestria.

[Mocha Star]

7827407
I'm gonna write a story about that, too.

[HB_DS2013]

7827699 Thanks? Anyway, I'm glad to have helped.

[Mocha Star]

7827722
I meant that as a matter of fact.
I'm going to, someday.