"Okay so let me get this straight..." Mike spoke up once Craig had gone over all he could on the pink pony that they had all encountered. There was something that he really needed to get off of his chest concerning todays recent events. "This Pinkie Pie character, a local that we've all encountered and is apparently a major celebrity here, wants to throw us a party because she wants to become friends with a bunch of random creatures that she has never met before, and on top of that hopes to introduce us to the entire town, which may I add would be a serious problem since you claimed that attracting attention to ourselves could be bad for all of us?"
"Blunt, but accurate, yes." Craig nodded.
"So... you didn't think that maybe it would have been helpful to inform us of all that earlier so that we could, you know, have come up with a plan to avoid her?" The changeling frowned.
"Trust me, she would have learned of us eventually. Besides, I said I was sorry! I was kind of distracted by being in a world of fantasy that shouldn't even exist!"
"I thought you said she was one of the main characters of the show? And that you're supposed to be an expert of said show? Kind of hard to imagine that you'd forget to mention something so obvious." Mike finished with a glare.
"Mike, knock it off!" Jack stepped in for the griffon. "He's doing the best he can given the circumstances, which is more than can be said for the rest of us! Besides the damage is done so lets salvage what we can from the information given and work with what we've got."
For a moment neither of the two said anything but instead glared at each other. It hadn't even been a whole day and they were already at each others throats. Weren't they all supposed to be friends? Right now they all seemed more interested in accusing each other of even the slightest mistake. They needed to be better than this. Oddly enough, the changeling was the first to actually realise this. His glare on Craig carefully softened and he sighed.
"Shit, I guess you're right." He admitted before turning to his griffon friend, looking sencere as he apologised."Sorry Craig. Guess I'm just a little stressed given the short time we've had to mentally prepare for everything that's happened to us. Hell, what's still happening to us."
"It's fine Mike, really. I suppose I have to take responsibility too for adding more wood to the fire."
"Are we still good?" He held out his hoof. Craig looked down at it and smiled before shaking it.
"We're good."
"Thanks man. So, what's our next move?"
"Thanks to our mutual pink friend, it's likely that everypony is going to know about us by..." Craig paused to take a look at one of the invitations he was holding in his claw. "...in three hours time... SO, we just need to play along for the moment and attend."
Ash decided to bring up a second option. "Or we could just not go." Jason passed the dragon a dumbfounded look.
"Dude, did you forget what she was like when we first met her? I honestly thought we were going to get attacked! And don't forget that she somehow managed to track down Mike and Jack like that." He tried snapping his fingers to emphasise his point, only to quickly realise that he didn't have any fingers. This embarrassing moment caused him to groan in irritation but he managed to continued on. "She found them almost right away! So what's to say she won't find us again when we don't show up? God only knows what she'll do to us!"
Craig wasn't sure whether to mention to Jason that the most the pink bubbly mare would probably do was merely demand an apology. Probably. But for the sake of his sanity he decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Shit. Okay then, forget what I just said." Ash sighed in defeat.
"Allow me to explain. We tried to keep to ourselves which clearly backfired, and most of us didn't exactly consider the fact that we need to think about finding food and shelter." Jack and Jason both became smug at the mention of Craig words since this was something that they had discussed earlier. "So if we go to the party, we'll at least get a bite to eat, maybe a bed for the night. It's worth the effort to try."
"Then we'll be trying the castle tomorrow I'm guessing?" Jason asked.
"Yes. Hopefully they'll have a library and we'll get the answers we need. I hope..."
"And if we don't?"
"I'm... not sure."
Nobody was able to avoid a low sinking feeling in the stomachs after hearing those woeful words. None of them, not even Craig himself was sure what he would do if they were trapped here forever.
"Gotta admit... that wasn't the answer I was expecting to hear." Ash chuckled weakly.
"Always expect the worst Ash. That way you won't be as disappointed if things go to shit." Jack passed on.
"Always expect the worst? What kind of dumbass would do that? You'd be moody and depressed for your whole damn life if you followed that bullshit rule!"
Jason cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Guys, as much as I'd love to continue on with this clearly riveting discussion, perhaps we should focus on what's set in stone."
"Right, of course." Craig nodded as he asked everyone to listen up. They were going to need another plan. "Let's take what we already know. We have a party to attend, we need food and shelter, and we also need to gain access to the castle library. So how do we complete all three of these objectives in one move?"
He paused for a moment, interested to hear if anyone had their own plan that they would like to share. When nobody spoke up, he answered for them.
"With the magic of friendship!"
The uttering of those five words left an awkward silence to hang in the air for a moment. The four listeners cast an unsure glance at each other.
"Wow. That couldn't have sounded cheesier." Mike sarcastically droned. Craig continued with his talk.
"Before, I believed that the best course of action was to avoid drawing attention so that we wouldn't have to worry about being found out about what we actually are. But if we want to survive, the opposite is what will be our salvation, meaning this so called disaster..." He showed them the invitation. "Is actually a chance for us to get exactly what we need! So yes, we essentially do need to go and we ALL need to be on our best behaviour."
Four heads turned to face the fifth.
"Why are you looking at me?" Ash snapped.
"Because your big mouth is the reason that we're in this position in the first place." Jason answered, remembering far to well how he responded to Pinkie when she confronted them in Ponyville.
"But... isn't that a good thing? Considering what we've just been over?"
"Yeah, it is now! But it wasn't when we were supposed to be keeping a low profile."
"Yeah, and no disrespect buddy but you ARE the most uncontrollable out of all of us." Mike included. Ash was about to defend himself, but stopped before he could and thought about the changeling's words. A few seconds later he shrugged.
"Yeah, that's fair."
"So Craig, where does it say we're supposed to be going for this party?"
"Let's have a look, it's at..." Craig paused as he read the location again, sure that he had made a mistake. "...The school of friendship...?"
"These lot have a school of friendship? The heck is that all about?" Jack asked tilting his head in confusion like a dog, almost accidentally whacking Mike with his enormous horns had the bug-horse not stepped back in time.
"It's a long story."
"Right, so where exactly is this 'school of friendship?" Jason asked, air quoting as he spoke the last few words.
"Well, do you remember the building that was next to the crystal castle? That's it."
"THAT'S the school?! Fuck man, wish my school looked that cool when I attended!"
"Are... we missing something?" Mike asked. He and Jack were the only two who had not seen this school yet. Ash held up to of his fingers as he soon informed both the changeling and the yak of one very important factor about the school that needed to be addressed right away.
"Two words Mike. Waterfalls."
"The school has waterfalls?! What, you mean going down the building? That's awesome!"
"Now that is something I'd like to see!"
"You guys are aware that waterfall is just one word, right?" Jason included and was ignored.
"Despite the amount of free time we have before this party, we should get moving right away." Craig spoke up. "We can spend our time getting familiar with the key locations of the town before heading on over to the school."
"Speaking of which, does anyone else find it a bit weird that this pony is throwing a party at a school of all places for a bunch of strangers? Seems a bit odd."
"Yeah, I picked up on that too Ash. There may be a reason behind it, but not one that I can think of right now. Maybe you can ask our gracious host when we get there."
"I'll pass. That mare was creepy enough the first time round."
"Yeah, no kidding..."
The group hoped that this whole walking back and forth would not be a regular thing for them as they moved towards the town yet again. Ash suggested that it would be easier to fly over since most of them had wings, leading to Craig reminding him that none of them had the time or knowledge to learn how to fly as well as Mike informing the two that it would also mean having to carry their two flightless with them and that even with all of them combined they would be unable to carry Jack's heavy ass up off the ground. This comment earned him a smack on the head from the annoyed yak.
Thankfully no further bickering or terrible suggestions were brought to light and the group managed to reach the town easily enough. Craig kept his word and indeed pulled the group around the town to the places that he knew of, acting like their own personal tour guide. For the first proper time since becoming a part of this world, the five friends actually found themselves enjoying the tour, including the more stubborn individuals For a short while it felt more like being tourists on vacation. The only difference being that tourists aren't usually forced to become a multitude of different creatures indigenous to the place they visit.
Craig took them all over. To Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville Hospital, Town Hall, even a small shop named Quills and Sofas. By the time they had visited each of these places, Craig reminded them that now would be the best time to head over. The once smiling faces shifted into nervous stares, unsure exactly what to expect. Craig had to ensure them all that they would all be fine. Curiously enough they had only encountered a handful of ponies who seemed to be okay with their presence, including Mikes, allowing him to feel a little bit less tense compared to when he first entered the lovely little town. They took almost no time reaching the outskirts of the town and could now see both the castle and the school in all its glory. Once they reached the edge of the lake, they stopped. The school stood on the opposite side of the crystal clear pool.
"Well, I guess that this is it, eh?" Jason opened his mouth.
"I guess so." Jack nodded.
"So Craig, any final tips before the inevitable?" Mike turned to the griffon.
"Other than try not to make complete asses of ourselves? Just remember our objectives and well be able to buy ourselves a few days at the least. That should be our overall goal."
"And to think just last night we were getting shit faced at our own party." Ash smiled.
"Well when we figure a way to get back home, I'll host the next one at my house." Jason laughed.
"I'll be sure to hold you to that." Mike also laughed.
The entire group joined in on the infectious laughter for a few seconds, allowing the sudden tension and nervousness from before melt away. Craig smiled. Maybe they were going to be alright after all.
"Welp, I never thought I'd ever say this. But guys? Lets go party at the school of friendship!"