//------------------------------// // Dear Terran // Story: Careful What You Doodle // by Graphite Quill //------------------------------// Well I was right to keep watch for that pink menace. Not very long after I finished writing that letter Pinkie came out of nowhere and grabbed it from the table saying she would bring it to Twilight. How that pony defies the laws of time and physics, I’ll never know. ‘Well now that I have some time alone I should probably get a good look at what kind of shape I’m in.’ Starting from my head I began feeling around my body testing the damaged areas to see how bad the pain was after Twilights healing and pain relief spells. My head was bandaged from the impact of the tree when I tripped, while it still hurt it was only a minor throbbing like a bad headache. My entire torso was bandaged from the top of my left shoulder to my waist, only my right shoulder and arm uncovered. I could see spots of blood that seeped through the bandages where each tooth had stabbed into me, I could see that some of the teeth had hit vital areas. Thank god for magic. Moving lower I noticed, thankfully, that I still had my pants on and that they were surprisingly unscathed. Happy that I dodged that common fanfiction event (it has to do with human anatomy being different and the explanation of how “it” works), I decided to test my movement with some stretches. Nothing too strenuous but I was surprised at how much I could actually move, I hurt like hell but not as much as you’d think. I had that strange feeling that I was being watched but it was a bit more pronounced than normal, I figured I’d ignore it for now and explore a little to try and find Pinkie or Twilight. Wandering around a bit I found the kitchen with a few ponies running around cooking various foods. While I didn’t really want to bother them, I needed some better food than what I had at breakfast and what Pinkie brought me. ‘Pinks makes good cupcakes but I need some real food not sweets.’ I almost felt guilty just thinking that. Walking towards the chefs I waved over the one that looked the least busy. There was a mare with a brown mane, white coat, and a cutie mark that looked like a piping bag that you squeeze icing out of. “Hey, mare with the white coat. Could you come here for a sec?” What? I didn’t know her name at the time, how else could I get her attention? She looked over with a scowl at first. Then she saw the bipedal hairless monkey in the room and became a bit nervous when she walked over. “Y-yes? Mr.Tobias, I presume?” It was easy to see that she was trying to remain professional and hide the fact that I scared her. “Do you require assistance of some kind?” “I was actually just exploring a bit on my own if that’s ok, but I am actually kind of hungry. Think I could have something to snack on, please? Oh, and please call me Terran.” I tried to make my voice as calm and friendly as possible. Considering that I’m going to be here for a while I don’t want anypony to be afraid of me. “You are free to go wherever you please. Princess Twilight already alerted all the staff not to impede you in any way. We are also to look after you and to make you feel at home, however lunch will be served in about two hours. I have to ask that you wait until then, however I would be willing to make something specific for you.” Her professionalism won over the fear as she spoke, she even stopped shaking. ‘Here we go...’ Having a pretty good idea of how this was going to go down, I decided to get it out of the way. “Well, there is something I would like but I need to explain some things first. I am a human. An omnivore, that means I eat not only fruits and veggies but also meat.” Fully expecting her to run or scream, I was surprised to see that she nodded in response. “I see. I will let the others know right away.” “Hey wait!” “Yes, Mr.Tobias?” I’ll never get used to being called that. “What’s your name?” “My name is Cocoanut Frosting.” After that she rejoined the rest of the chefs and I figured I should leave them alone. Wandering around some more I got the same feeling of being watched again. I couldn’t ignore it this time and decided to go towards this ‘feeling’. I thought is was strange that I could follow this feeling and what was even more odd was that I could feel myself getting closer as I walked. Whatever was causing this feeling was right above me. ‘Stairs. I need to find the stairs.’ Finding a way up took longer than it probably should have, I’m pretty sure I was walking in circles. Once again, I followed this feeling and was eventually led to a large purple door. ‘Time to figure out what this is.’ I knocked on the door only to have it open right after the third knock, the door handle was glowing a familiar purple color. “Enter.” A voice said as the feeling I had been following faded away. “That you Twi? I hope you don’t mind me asking but what exactly were you doing in here before I came in?” I asked the alicorn princess who was seated at a desk. ‘This must be her study.’ “Well, I had hoped to have more time to get some results before I told you. I did a magical scan of your soul when you were returning to your body and was trying to locate where you originated from. I have had no luck so far but I assure you, I will find a way to get you back home as I know this place is far from what your used to.” She almost sounded like she was trying to reassure me, like she thought I was homesick or something. ‘I don’t want her to know that I wanted to come here, at least for right now. How can I get her to stop without giving anything away?’ We were both silent for a few minutes until I had an idea. “While it is true that this place is different from what I’m used to, it’s different in a good way. Anyway, what about my ‘connection’ with Pinkie? If I were to leave while being soul bound to her what would happen? I don’t want to inadvertently hurt her.” “Hmm, you’re right. This is something I should have thought about, and until we can be sure neither of you will be hurt I’m afraid you will have to stay. I’m sorry, its my fault that you are stuck here.” Either she found the floor to be very interesting or she was feeling guilty and couldn’t look at me. I however was happy to hear this. “Twi, you have nothing to be sorry for. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you and Pinks. You both saved my life and for that I will be eternally grateful.” I then pulled Twilight into a hug to help prove my point. She stiffened at first but then returned the hug full force with her arms and wings. There was a small hiss then popping noise behind me along with a small flash of light. “Looks like Celestia wrote back, and it’s addressed to you.” She floated the message into my hands then said, “I’ll go ahead and let you read it first since it was meant for you after all.” “I’ve heard nothing but good things about Princess Celestia, I’m hoping she’s understanding about the situation.” After reading the letter I let out a sigh of relief. “Well the basic outline is that she will be too busy to meet me in person so she wants me to keep a journal that has, ‘every single detail about what I do on a daily basis, any conversations, and what I do when I’m alone.’ I hope she doesn’t mean EVERY thing, I don’t know how I feel about writing the more personal stuff.” “I’m not sure either but I would write everything down, she’s most likely using it as a way to get to know you and see if you’re trustworthy.” “True. I’ll put everything down, I just hope she is the only one that reads them. Who knows what I’ll get myself into while I’m here- “ Just then the door opened again to reveal Pinkie with a strange look on her face. “What’s going on in here? Why are you two so close?” Pinkie said. The weird thing is, I heard a hint of jealousy in her voice. “What do you mean Pinks?” looking over at Twilight I realized she still had a wing around me from the hug earlier. “Oh, this?” gesturing towards the half hug. Twilight must have noticed as well because she pulled her wing back with a small blush flaring up on her cheeks. “I was just telling Twi that I appreciated her for saving my life, then I got this message from Princess Celestia.” Pinkie seemed happy with my response because she started talking about a mile a minute about random stuff. I was surprised by how easily I was able to keep up and make comments at the same speed. I blame the ‘connection’ we have.