Magical Mission: Portal to a New Home

by Player 4


Chapter 7: Small Talk That's Actually Big

Alright. It's schedule time.

For writing the schedule, I draw up the idea to rip out a piece of paper from the notebook and tape it onto the barn wall so that I can easily consult it without having to pull out the notebook and flip to the right page.

Turning the pages over to the first empty space following the end of today's diary entry, I slowly rip the paper out of its original place, and for once, successfully keep its shape intact! I push the notebook to the back of my guest desk and set the to-be schedule paper in front of my eyes, for it to be worked on. I then reach for my primary pen and point it towards its destination.

So, what black-colored text needs to be written on this page?

Well, the Equestrian adventures I'm trying to schedule are all these one-on-one meetups with ponies I had agreed to doing during my introduction-to-town journey through Ponyville yesterday. There were quite a few requests for those.

The ponies didn't give me any scheduling on when they start and end their work days, where in Ponyville there houses are, and the like, and I am millions of light-years away from the reach of an iPhone or any kind of instant messaging, so I'll have to create this schedule using predictions and estimations.

Let's take it step-by-step. Where is the proper place to start?

First off, I decide I should give the first meeting honor to whoever asked first; I think first request should get first dibs. Yeah, I'll go in order. So, who was the first pony I agreed to a hangout with?

I can't exactly remember, so I put into action the technique of running through my time here, taking note of everypony I've talked to so far in chronological order, and whether or not a meeting invite took place.

Applejack, no. She's my closest contact, so we're already in the habit of talking to each other in two-player mode. The other Apples, no. None of them have asked for a session like that with me.

Moving on to Day 2: Lyra and Bon Bon... yes! Right before their departure from the hangout with Applejack and I yesterday, they told me they wanted to see me at their place, partially for checking out Bon Bon's candy shop.

So, there we go! That is where I shall go first!

Now, what time?

I look at the clock during this sunny morning - 09:13.

I haven't the slightest idea what time Bon Bon's candy shop opens. Well, if I arrive and the doors are still closed, I could hang out in their house for the time being. Those doors should be open.

Except... what if they're not? What if I arrive at Lyra and Bon Bon's residence and they're still in sleep mode? That sure wouldn't be a nice drop-by. I also am completely blank on what the two mares' wake-up times are. Goodness, how am I possibly supposed to schedule this?

Well, let's go by what we can calculate as the "safest" time. I don't imagine a store would wait that late into the day to open, especially not with the current day being Monday. So 11:30 is probably overkill.

And the store being open means that Bon Bon would have to be awake. So we're good on that.

Picking 11:00, though, might cause problems since lunchtime lies just an hour away from that. I do desire more time than a single hour with Lyra and Bon Bon.

Plus, it is a must for me to take into account traveling between destinations. Choosing 11:00 would leave even less time than one hour with Lyra and Bon Bon, because I need time to go from one place to the next. I don't have teleportation magic. And who knows what the travel times are?

Erm... yeah, the travel times could easily complicate this whole day. There is little to no reference for how far apart my targeted locations are from each other, or whether I'll be using carriage or foot transportation.

Houston, we have a problem.

I guess this is why I try not to operate on schedules...

Well, let's use our thinking. For one, I seriously doubt ponies would be that picky about my arrival and departure times. This is Ponyville, after all. They'll understand if cutting down on time spent with them is needed, and I'm sure they'll help me with the scheduling should I need it.

Honestly, you could say that the scheduling really just exists to make sure every event takes place. To prevent you from letting one activity eat up so much time and memory room that you end up having to apologize for never showing up to the next activity.

So yeah. The times are flexible, and really much more of a tool than an instruction sheet.

Problem solved.

Returning to the track, let's figure out how we choose a (rough) time for meeting up with Lyra and Bon Bon.

Well, I'm in Sweet Apple Acres, so I can say their house is pretty far away. Regardless of carriage or foot transportation, whichever happens, it's far away. I also have to take into account the "getting ready" time of the day that occurs before any outings start. Progress so far: I had eaten a full energy-tank-filling breakfast today, but was still in bed mode with my pajama attire.

I gauge from this that I should give myself about 45 minutes of breathing room.

It's currently 09:15, I should get there earlier than 11:00, and I want to give Lyra and Bon Bon time to wake up.

The final decision: 10:30.

Alright! There we go; 10:30! That's what we have chosen! Now I can finally write!

10:30 - Go to Lyra and Bon Bon's house; test out Bon Bon's candy for a possible purchase.

Alright! There's the first entry!

Now here comes the second. Who was next to ask for a meeting?

Restarting the timeline from the last occurrence, after lunch with Lyra and Bon Bon was finished, we were summoned into a conversation by Golden Harvest while on our way to Sugarcube Corner, and I did indeed agree to having a one-on-one get-together with her.

Alright, here we come to the time again. So, if my time at Lyra and Bon Bon's place starts at 10:30 and I want it to last for at least an hour, then giving myself breathing room for travel times, I gauge the right time to set the meeting with Golden Harvest as noon, a.k.a. lunchtime. Assuming she's available for a hangout at that time, by doing that, I can go to a restaurant with her. If not, well, I can pick another pony in town. There are plenty of friendly, hospitable creatures to be found.

Sounds good!

12:00 - Lunch with Golden Harvest (If not available, some random pony walking around)

I feel comfortable with only a 30-minute gap for travel, since I will be inside central Ponyville after leaving Lyra and Bon Bon's house, not having to come from the far reaches of Sweet Apple Acres this time.

Which leads to me thinking, as I look over the schedule...

Uh, yeah, I probably should have put the ending times there too. But... there's no way to turn back; I'm writing on paper here. I can't just add it in either; there's not enough room.

Eh, whatever. The times are flexible anyway, and I think I can memorize the end points by checking the time periodically, and also letting the meals decide. After all, what I'm trying to set up with Golden Harvest is lunch.

Good. Two entries down now!

Back to the timeline: after the sweet talk with Golden Harvest came the also-sweet visit to Sugarcube Corner, where neither Pinkie nor myself asked each other for a one-on-one get-together, but I am wanting to try for a friendship with her. I'd love to have a playdate with Pinkie and see if there's any friendship potential.

I'm working with the time right after lunch here, so... how about I make a third trip to Sugarcube Corner for dessert and see if I can grab at least some small talk with Pinkie Pie?

Yeah! Let's do that! Great timing!

13:30 - Dessert at Sugarcube Corner

Due to the nature of cooking and eating times, it's virtually impossible for me to predict how long lunch and dessert will last. But it's important to me to have some kind of scheduling for this day, even if it was likely to be broken. It just made me feel more organized. So I randomly go with 1 1/2 hours and pick 13:30 for approximately the time I open the Sugarcube Corner doors from outside, and about 14:15 for when I do the same in reverse. And I should be able to see Pinkie; she works at the bakery.

So, who's next?

Twilight is the answer to that question. Yesterday, after the first Sugarcube Corner dessert came the meeting with Twilight where we discussed getting me back home and showing proof of my presence in Equestria.

Oh yeah! I should go over there and see how the progress on that is going! Plus, there are a couple things I wanted to research in the library! Let's go there!

Heavily eager to even potentially see progress on that, and to engage in research inside the library of the one and only Twilight Sparkle, I write this entry at rapid-fire speed.

14:45 - Go to the Castle of Friendship, check with Twilight on portal progress, research at library

While the start and end times of Sugarcube Corner dessert can't be predicted, based on my previous random choices for that event's scheduling and continuing to use the 30-minute travel gap, I feel like 14:45 is a reasonable prediction.

Anypony else?

Not Rarity; I already had a hangout with her after we worked on my clothing. So the welcome party is where we need to go to next.

Looking ahead to there, I did receive an awesome meetup with Sea Swirl where I found out she was a pony I really wanted to talk to again, and, like Pinkie, look for the possibility of building a friendship with.

But today is Monday, and Sea Swirl works for a company, so she's probably there, and I have no idea when her shift ends. I also don't know how to get to Big Blue. An iPhone would really be useful here...

Well, I guess the best option here, if I really want a meeting with her specifically, is to just wait until our physical paths cross again, whenever that may be, and we can try to work something out from there.

After Sea Swirl, I also told Sprinkle Medley I would come see her again, in high part because of the adversity she's been facing. But I also don't know what times she works. Heck, I don't even know if she lives in Ponyville. I mean, I've seen her in Ponyville plenty of times through watching the show the show, but she can also be seen in Cloudsdale. Who knows which city she's in right now?

I'll just do the same thing as I chose to do with Sea Swirl; wait until I come across Sprinkle Medley again.

Looking through the timeline more... yep, that's all the ponies.

I guess what I should do now is look at the last event I scheduled and see how much time there is left.

If I spend two hours at the library, that makes it 16:45 at end time, so I'll probably want to go back to Sweet Apple Acres for dinner. Especially since it's a far ways away from downtown Ponyville. I'll probably want to avoid staying at the library for two hours precisely because of that.

Is this schedule complete?

I think it is!

I do the victory symbol of flinging my pen down at my desk in celebration of the completion of a schedule written without any modern-day Earth technology to help.

The preparation isn't done yet, though, as immediately after the scheduling gets checked off; a new question spawns on me: Will Applejack be able to come with me on my adventures today?

I mean, she has to return to her normal work routine someday. She graciously sacrificed some time of what's most important to her in her life to keep me company while I navigated my initial arrival in this new world, but she can't keep doing that forever, and today might be the day it becomes time for her to discontinue missing a chunk of duty.

I'm leaving that choice up to her, so let's see what choice she has made. I leave my guest barn and make my way to the apple tree forest, where AJ is currently working.

"Hey Applejack.", I say. "So, I've made plans to go out today; I'm going to be holding those meetings I agreed to have with Lyra + Bon Bon, Golden Harvest, and Twilight, and while I'm with Twilight, I'm also going to check in with her on the portal progress and do some library research."

"And I'm wondering if you can come with me. I know you won't always be able to, as you can't keep taking time off work."

Applejack hears the exact thing she's been thinking this morning spoken to her by someone else. She comes in with her hard-to-swallow, but correctly honest, response.

"You're right pardner; today must be the first day for me to say I'm too busy to do all that with ya. So ah declare today as the day ya go out into Ponyville on yer own for the first time. I know it will be hard. But remember that you're in Ponyville here; anythin' that ain't goin' right for ya will be tended too.

"Plus, ya were talkin' about those there meetings you're havin'; you'll still have company!"

"Go out and do it, pardner. It's yer time."

I wanted to be frightened at the idea of going out in public on my own. That was an activity I had never engaged with in my entire life, partially because I was scared of it.

But Applejack is right about the company and Ponyville aspects. My reason for going out today is to spend time with ponies I had already interacted with and I know are friendly and helpful. And should an anxiety-spiral-style worry become real, there would have to be somepony right there who would lend me a hoof.

And then that "Go out and do it, pardner. It's yer time.", quote from Applejack; that felt nothing short of powerful. Seeing my friend look me in the eyes and display that much belief in me successfully worked at getting me to take the plunge.

"Alright, AJ. I'm going out by myself. And when I come back, I hope I can give a good anecdote."

"That's the spirit, pardner!"

I give her a big thumbs-up.


As I spend time in my guest barn bathroom, getting ready and such, quite a few swirling thoughts are present in my mind besides the anxiety of going out into Ponyville by myself.

I come to the realization that scheduling will probably increase in difficulty level from here on out and how much progress I've made. This day only feels somewhat organized because of how many ponies wanted one-on-one meetings with me and how I had enough time to have them all in one day.

Then, even though it was only my third day in Equestria, it feels like the "honeymoon effect" is already wearing off. The crazy feelings of getting here for the first time, finding out how the ponies would react to the presence of a human, going out into town for the first time, etc... all that was finished now.

So I do feel confident in saying I am now in phase 2 of my journey. The part where I begin to experience the place more and slowly but surely get used to it. I'd rather wait to try and start a career until after that. I need some time to settle in to this place.

And there's not really any way to do that other than to let time pass and to keep experiencing the place.

Well, hopefully these meetings with ponies will naturally provide that. I think they will, because they already have.

So I set off to get things going, beginning with my meet-up with Lyra and Bon Bon at their house.


I decide to take the trip on foot rather than waiting for a carriage, because, I don't carry bits around, I don't have Applejack with me, (I mean, I could ask to borrow bits, but I'm shy about that), and I'm also shy about paying for things on my own, yeah, I'm just not going to bother.

I have plenty of energy anyway. I had coffee and apple consumables at breakfast; good enough fuel.

Wait a minute... how do I get to Ponyville, though? I don't know the directions...

I backtrack to ask my first contact.

"Applejack, I'm taking the trip on foot here; how do I get to downtown Ponyville?

She decides not to question my decision here, instead just giving me what I'm looking for.

"It shouldn't be hard. Once you get beyond the gates, just turn left and keep walkin' from there. Should work just fine."

"That's great.", I say. "Thanks, Applejack!"

"No problem, pardner."

I give her a happy wave, which she reciprocates as she fades from my view. I set off for real this time, turning to my left as soon as I exit the farm gates and trudging along the green grass to Ponyville.


My beginning destination here on Day 3 is Lyra and Bon Bon's house, both to hang out with them and to test out Equestrian candy for the first time.

I choose to go to their actual house first. I give the door a knock. Bon Bon is the one to answer.

"Hey there, Player 4! You came to us! Ready to get your first taste of Equestrian candy?"

"Yes I am, and I did come to you!", I say. "You were the first ones to suggest that I come see you again after our first meeting yesterday, so I chose to come here first!"

"Lucky us!", Lyra says, walking into my view.

Bon Bon smiles and leads me through the livingroom, down a back hall, and into her gray-coated and sunny candy shop. Lyra also tags along.

"So, what kind of candies do you usually eat?", Bon Bon asks, standing in front of a large sweetness display featuring full tubes of various candies.

"I mostly like fruity candies.", I say. "Whether they're hard, chewy, or soft, naturally or artificially flavored, anything fruit-flavored is my go-to. They take the top spot over chocolate, caramel, etc."

"Excellent choices!", Bon Bon says. She picks up a candy scoop and brings out a sample of a strawberry-resembling candy. "Here, try this.", she says, handing it to me. "It's a gummy strawberry that has actual strawberry juice inside."

Oh wow, that sounded really interesting! While I don't mind artificial flavors at all, I definitely had a knack for the idea of natural fruit flavor inside a candy.

I normally suck on gummy candies, keeping the sweet flavor in my mouth for a longer period of time, but right now, time was limited. I was supposed to be sampling a candy with natural juice inside and telling the maker what I think of it, so, as much as I didn't want to, I had to just bite into it.

Bon Bon was totally right. It was a gummy, but inside the core of that gummy was totally legit natural strawberry juice, which I could confirm in seconds. I know that flavor when I taste it.

"Very good.", I say, giving a thumbs-up.

"Alright!", Bon Bon responds, clapping her hooves. "So, what do you say to buying a full bag? Which, by the way, it's not just strawberry. There's a whole rainbow of fruits in this particular candy set. Orange, lemon, lime, blueberry, grape, and raspberry are there too. You also don't need to have them all at once. I have the option of getting a bag of each flavor individually."

Wow, Bon Bon really does take the liberty with her options! I like seeing that; more choices should mean more satisfied customers, since they're more likely to find what they're looking for!

But right now, I'm going with the standard blended version.

"I'll go with the mixed bag.", I say.

"Will do.", Bon Bon says. The candy mare hands me a ready-for-purchase pouch of those naturally-flavored gummies she has so brilliantly crafted. It's a purple bag with the candies peeking out through a window, and images of the fruits the candies represent decorating the front. I wonder who makes the art for the packaging? Whoever it is, they're awesome.

I hand over to her the listed price of 7 bits. For as much as I tried to resist it, Applejack gave me a handful of bits (50, to be exact) for carrying around whenever I ventured out into Equestria on my own. I didn't want to accept free money, but she did have a correct point. I do need them.

After the candy store portion becomes complete, the time is nowhere near noon, so I offer to hang out with Lyra and Bon Bon in their house for a while. They happily accept, and lead me in the reverse way we came, back to their livingroom from the candy shop.

While there, I hesitate on eating the candy now, saying that I'd prefer to wait until I'm back home and it's after dinner, which was my standard practice throughout my whole life. Bon Bon accepted this, but she then found something in me that I wasn't even aware of.

"So Player 4, one of the things that inevitably comes with moving to a new country, not to mention a new world, is the loss of some cultural food you loved. How have you been managing that so far?

You know, I hadn't really thought about this, in all honesty. In these beginning days, I had been far too possessed by the excitement to try Equestrian food to start missing my home food.

But I could be sure that missing my old food would manifest down the line. Obviously, the honeymoon period won't last forever.

"Well, it hasn't really occurred to me, but I know it will eventually.", I say. "Bon Bon, is what you're getting at with talking about this, that foods like this candy should help me get used to your culture more?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking!", Bon Bon says. "For every food you start missing, I hope that you find a suitable replacement. Losing things we love sucks even more if we can't fill the space. And I want to play my best part in helping you on that. Finding yourself remembering a candy you loved back on Earth? Come to my shop and I'll look for what's most similar to it!"

Wow. If that ever wasn't a brilliant idea!

"Thanks, Bon Bon. I will certainly do that. You're awesome."

She smiles big.


As my watch gets closer to noon, I say goodbye to Lyra and Bon Bon and head back into the outside to meet up with Golden Harvest and take her along for lunch.

Thanks to the lack of phones in Equestria, she couldn't tell me where to meet up. I had no idea which restaurant we were going to or where I'm even supposed to find her. The best I could do in that latter regard was to ask Lyra and Bon Bon where Golden usually hangs out when waiting for somepony, which they provided satisfactory answers to.

I have to say, that's a really creative strategy!

You know, there are some advantages to the lack of advanced technology. By forcing you to be more creative, it spawns really cool stuff!

Lyra and Bon Bon suggested my destination should be the fountain that Junebug can be seen drinking out of in Secret of My Excess. They said that Golden Harvest tends to use that spot for resting while on an outside trip and waiting to see if anyone who desires to pair up comes her way, and that Monday afternoons are a good time to catch her there. Lucky!

As I find said fountain and approach its vicinity, I look over there, and... nopony's there.

I was about to prepare myself for a long search and a potentially late lunch, but then... the pony I was seeking called out to me from behind.

"Hey! Did somepony tell you I often wait there?", she says, giggling.

"Yep. Bon Bon and Lyra told me. That's why I looked."

"Well, it's ironic, because I was going to wait there and see if you decided to come to me today! You just happened to already be there!", Golden Harvest says.

Wow! That is definitely something!

"Yep, you got lucky!", I say. "I did choose today, because I have all of it free. My job application results haven't come back yet, so I'm still in meeting mode."

"Good! I'm honored you're doing this one-on-one with me.", Golden says.

"I am too!", I respond.

I then ask her where we're going.

"So, since it's that time of day, my plan for what to do with you is go to a restaurant. Any idea where we should go?"

"I do. Since you're the new guy, my Plan A was to give you the choice, but I also conjured up a Plan B, where I picked a restaurant for the potential case of you not having a suggestion. Just follow me."

I begin doing so, but then realize something.

"Wait a minute. How did you know I wanted to go to a restaurant and that I would try and see you at noon? We never talked plans yesterday."

Golden Harvest giggles. "Well, turns out, I didn't know! You're right; we didn't make those plans, so I had no idea. I randomly picked noon as the time to lie in wait and see if you would come. I was taking a risk, for sure. But we got lucky!"

Wow! We sure did!"

"That is some alignment!", I say. "I guess it's now time to take advantage of it. Restaurant, here we come!"

Golden Harvest begins walking.

I fully move into the next phase of this day, pairing up with Golden Harvest one-on-one for the first time and taking the trip over to our lunch site.

I set foot into the diner that is coated in a lovely dark-blue. It's bustling here at the dawn of lunchtime; a multitude of ponies had taken to this place for their food-and-talk breaks, which, despite the timing, I wasn't really predicting would happen. I have been told that the mushroom cafe, where I went yesterday, is the most popular, but it appears there is another big-name restaurant I was totally missing.

"Table for two, please.", Golden Harvest says.

We get led up a ramp, to the right, and onto a booth seat that is placed on a loft above the front desk. It overlooks the front door too. That's a really cool place to sit, in my view.

Almost right away, the waiter pony introduces herself and asks what we want to drink. I choose lemon-lime soda.

At the waiter interaction, today featured a first. This waiter was the first pony to come into contact with me and not make any mention of what species I am.

I guess that's pretty cool. It would get tiring after a while.

"So," Golden Harvest begins the conversation with, "What's on your mind right now?"

"What's on my mind... hmm, it's a long story, so good thing we went to a restaurant."

"Right.", she says, sipping her drink. "Go ahead, tell me the whole thing."

"Alright.", I begin. "So, a new thought I picked up on my way here was that it would be useful to divide my first 100 or so days here into phases."

"Phase 1 was the shock period; first arriving here, feeling my dream come true, starting to feel homesick, getting jarred by the changes."

"Today, even just three days in, I feel like I'm getting out of that phase. There are still plenty of things I'm getting caught off guard by, and I do sometimes think 'Oh right, I'm not home.' But I am at the point where I wake up knowing my routine. Emerge from bed, go to the main barn where you'll see the Apples, and Applebloom will be the one saying 'Good morning; did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, there you go!", Golden Harvest responds. "That definitely is a sign of progress; you're easing into the routine."

"What else entails in Phase 2?"

"Well, it involves getting used to the ways of my new world. Like I was talking about yesterday, I can't use the traditional routine of easing into a move, because my most common comfort tools don't exist here."

"This has made it extra hard for me to adjust. Sometimes I reach over to grab a device that isn't there. I get the idea to type something out... and I can't. I've had to rethink a very big chunk of my days."

"And the last two days, with them being what they were, this didn't really matter. But now, since the initial shock has worn off; the welcome party is over and everything, I need to start getting used to regular day-to-day life here. And I don't know what to fill the spots with."

Golden Harvest readily rockets in with a fuel tank of help.

"My advice would be, take it on a case-by-case basis. Any time you encounter a period where you're missing something, explain to whoever you're with what that thing is, and what can be put in place of it."

"It naturally will be hard at first. But that changes with time."

"And on the way, Equestria will continue to give you things that you couldn't get in your old home. Keep that in mind."

This pony has such a way with words...

"Thanks, Golden Harvest. Have you ever been tasked with any kind of hospitality thing? I know you're primarily a carrot farmer, but you would make a great tour guide."

"Well, I was tasked with hanging the welcome banner at Princess Celestia's visit to Ponyville back in 2010. Of course, that one got ruined by parasites, but I did have the role!"

"Hospitality has always been a second hobby of mine. Any new resident to Ponyville; I want to do my best to welcome them in and give them all the help I need."

"I also wanted it to be even more powerful in your case, since you came from an entirely different universe and are an entirely different species."

That makes sense.

"Once again, thank you.", I say.

Golden Harvest continues.

"I also want to add; it's admirable that you're open to this process. I have not seen a single sign of you wanting to go back home to regain the things you lost. While not everything crossed your mind, it's clear to me that you knew what you were getting yourself into by coming here, and made the determination that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. Then you're open to fixing the drawbacks."

"Overall, you know what you want out of your time here; you're accomplishing it, you're still getting used to things; you're making natural progress on that. And you are being open-minded to whatever comes your way. To me, that signals doing the right thing.", Golden Harvest says.

That is true.

"Thanks so much for this conversation.", I say to her, as the food comes.

With that part finished, Golden Harvest and I proceed to talk more casually. The subject shifted more towards her this time, and it was enjoyable.

However, during that time, a surprise occurs. A flare of green flames passes by and drops down a bow-tied paper message.

"It must be from Twilight and Spike!", Golden Harvest says.

"I bet it's Twilight letting me know something about that portal progress.", I say.

"Well, let's open it!", Golden says.

I do so, unwrapping the red bow, unrolling the paper by its sides, and glazing my eyes over the text.

Dear Player 4,

I am calling you to the Castle of Friendship for an update on the progress of getting you back home and letting your family know that you are here.

Yours truly,
Twilight Sparkle

"It's a letter from Twilight letting me know about the portal progress.", I say.

"That doesn't match up with the schedule though. I was planning to take you to Sugarcube Corner for dessert after our lunch here."

"Well, which one are you more excited for?", Golden says.

"I guess seeing the progress.", I say.

"Then go. When we're done with lunch here, go there and see it. You can take me to Sugarcube Corner any other time; right now you've got major news waiting for you.", Golden says.

"Okay. I will do that.", I say.


I will do that. If Twilight was telling me to come to the castle by her bidding, then there must be something magical going on. Usually, checking in with something Twilight's up to starts with you. She's too busy to consistently send out updates on every project.

So it just has to be known as soon as possible why she did it this time.