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// Chapter 79: Hotel Check In 
// Story: Marshmallow Dreams 
// by Halira 
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We arrived at the hotel and must have either been close to the first to arrive or the last because I didn't see many other guests. 

The hotel lobby looked very hotel lobbyish—with a bunch of couches to sit on, a few bellhops with carts waiting, a reception desk with a giant wall of keys behind it. The most significant difference from any hotel I had ever been to was that the entire place was made of a coral pink crystal with white crystal mixed in. The white crystal seemed like it was primarily used for support beams. Was the white crystal more sturdy and robust than the coral-colored crystal? I had noticed white being used for supports in the palace-spire thing too. I wasn't a lapidary, so I didn't have a lot of experience dealing with crystals and rare stones, but it made me curious all the same. The fact that everything was made out of crystal made mundane buildings like hotels and shops have an otherworldly look. It made sense because we were on another world, but it was something that could be used for ideas for building on Earth. There were still no right angles either; how was everything so stable with no right angles?

I could tell it was a newer building. Not by the lack of wear and tear, but by the height of the ceilings and doors. This place was built to accommodate humans. The entries in most of the shops and homes we had passed by, and even many of the doors in the palace were all too low to be comfortable for humans. Jonathan had to duck through the majority of the doors in the castle, and even Blanche, who was an entire foot shorter than him, had to duck in places. This place was built with doors that someone even taller than Jonathan could easily walk through without a need to crouch. I wasn't sure about ceilings in those other buildings, but I had a feeling many of them were lower as well, based on the placement of windows for the second floors. 

Well, we needed to check-in, and since I wasn't the only one who was taking in the decor, I decided to be first up. 

I walked over to the reception desk. "Hi, there! I'm one of the contest winners from Earth. I was told I have to check-in, and you already had my luggage waiting to take to my room."

The crystal pony stallion at the desk smiled and nodded as he pulled out a list. "Of course! Name please?"

"Rebecca Riddle." 

The stallion started examining the list. "Oh, thank you for having an easier name. Some of you Earthlings have such difficult names to try to understand. Yes! I have exactly one Riddle on my list, Rebecca Riddle, pegasus. I will have one of the bellhops fetch your luggage and help you find your room. Do you have any preferences about location?"

I thought about it. "I would like to be put in a room near my friends from school, Sunflower Smiles and Blanche… I forgot her last name. They are right behind me." I turned to look at them. "If that is okay with you two?"

Sunflower looked around. "I don't mind, but my family is here, and I want to be close to them too."

"My family is here as well. I would like to be close to them in addition to my friends, but I'm not sure how possible it would be to arrange both," Blanche replied.

"That's no problem, ma'ams!" the stallion said happily. "You are the first five to arrive, so you have the most flexibility with rooms. Do you two gentlestallions wish to be near your lady friends? You all seem to be a group, but I could be wrong."

The two guys looked at each other then back at the pony at the desk.

"I have family as well who I want to be close to, but if you could arrange that and being close to the girls, I would appreciate it," Jonathan replied. 

"Same for me," Roger said.

"Great! We can arrange for one wing of one floor to be used for all of you. We only have contest winners staying with us for tonight," the clerk replied. He then frowned and looked at Jimsonweed. "Which makes me wonder, what are you doing here?"

Jimsonweed puffed herself up. "I was only making sure that they found their way here! I haven't said anything about you or your hotel." She paused and looked around. "It's very… um… clean! See, I complimented you!"

Flurry sighed and patted Jimsonweed on the back. "That was a good attempt. We'll work on it." She looked at the clerk. "When you are done checking them in, I need to discuss having a meet and greet presentation here, in your lobby, later tonight."

He bowed his head. "Of course, princess! Our guests would be thrilled to have you here. Just… have your friend stay at home."

Jimsonweed turned her head and muttered. "Didn't want to be at your cruddy hotel anyway."

I was about to say something, but Sunflower beat me to it. "Hey! What's your deal? Why are you the way you are? I don't get it."

The filly flattened her ears and glared at Sunflower. "What did I tell your fat friend? You aren't allowed into my head. Save it for the Earthlings."

I was surprised as Sunflower didn't back down. "You're an Earthling too. You aren't so young you didn't spend at least half your life on Earth. Krik-"

"Master Krik!" Jimsonweed snapped. 

"Master Krik…" Sunflower corrected herself but not losing resolve. "He retired—what? Five years ago? If you came over with him, you were nine at the time. How can you find yourself in such a fantastic place and be so miserable? How did you even end up in his care? I spent the last few weeks reading about the Dreamwardens and asking them questions, trying to study up to not feel like a fool. Master Krik's family is all dead, and there is no mention anywhere of him having adopted anypony. What's your story, and more importantly, if this is your ending, why are you unhappy?"

Jimsonweed looked away. "Word of advice, dumbbell, don't talk about Master Krik's family, especially to him. As for not being impressed—it's just another place, like any other place."

Sunflower fluffed her wings. "Yes, it's another place, and every place is special! I want to see all the places and see all the things they have that make them unique. Even my home, some ponies thought it was not very interesting, that it was nowhere, but if you looked deeper, you could have this fantastic experience being there. The only reason I left is I wanted to have even more new experiences. You know so much about the Crystal Empire and other places in Equestria, but you don't get any joy from being here or surrounded by amazing things and amazing ponies. You're friends with a princess and are the adopted daughter of a former Dreamwarden. That's amazing! But you don't seem to care. I want to know why."

I could hear the filly grinding her teeth from across the room as she gave Sunflower a hateful stare. Flurry Heart gently laid a wing over Jimsonweed's back. 

"Jimson, try to be understanding," Flurry said in a calming tone. "She doesn't know you. She doesn't understand how her words can hurt. If she—"

Jimsonweed shoved her friend's wing off with her own. "If she had half a brain, she would have listened when I said she has no business trying to get into my head!" She stomped over to Sunflower. "You think every place is special? That every place is full of hidden joy and happiness? You don't have a clue! Tell me, Smiley, what do you tell a filly who spent from when she was five until she was nine living on the streets of New York, living off spoiled food from dumpsters that made her sick, but she had to eat, or she would starve?! What do you tell the five-year-old who had her mother abandon her soon after her birth because she didn't want to be a pony, and she didn't want some filly around making her regret her decision?! What do you tell that same filly when her dad goes to work one day and never comes back, and she only finds out a week later that he had been hit by a car?! Or how about the fact that same dad, who was supposed to love and protect her was a token poster pony for Humanity First and only ever told her they were defective for being ponies to the point she believed it?! What a wonderful world, isn't it?"

Jimsonweed sat down and hung her head, sobbing like a much younger foal. "Where is the joy in living in a place like that? I wanted to get away too. That's why I tried to sneak through the portal to Equestria, to go somewhere away from the hurt and the pain. They caught me, of course. What stupid little filly thinks she can sneak past all that security?"

We all stared at her as she sobbed, even the hotel staff and a few of the other contest winners who had just walked in through the door to be exposed to her outburst. I thought my early foalhood was rough just being homeless, but this was something else.

She seemed unable to continue, and the princess rubbed her back and continued for her. 

"Jimson was caught by portal security on the same day Master Krik was supposed to come over to Equestria," Flurry Heart explained. "He took an instant interest in her and stayed on Earth for several extra weeks while they nursed her many physical health issues. She didn't trust ponies, and her only previous encounter with a Dreamwarden had ended with her telling the Dreamwardens to go away and never bother her again—which I understand is fairly binding in the dream realm unless some crime has been committed. Ponies had tried to engage her before, but Master Krik somehow managed to be the first to get through to her, and he did it without words and without her knowing how to read. Ironically, you can learn how to communicate better when you lose your power of speech—you have to."

Jimsonweed sniffled. "I didn't trust him, not back then, but he was my only ticket through the portal. I thought I would just run away once I got through, but the old coot was ready for it and every attempt after. He was KGB when he was younger; you know that, right? That's the old Soviet Union secret agents, and he was part of Russia's secret agents after that. He isn't as easy to fool as any other dope. I tried biting him, hitting him, yelling at him, and he never got angry, no matter what. He was never mean to me and always treated me nice and took care of me. I eventually started to trust him. He taught me to read and encouraged me to read about everything. It turns out I'm pretty smart for a half-feral filly."

Flurry smiled. "You have to understand; Jimson used to be a lot worse. You don't want to know what our first two years of classes together were like—I felt like screaming at her every day. I more than once asked my mother to throw her out of the Crystal Empire—which my mother never did, but was sorely tempted to do. I know that doesn't excuse her behavior now that she should know better, but it's a process. Don't judge a pony until you have had to walk the trail they've been on. I'm sorry she can be so mean and nasty, but we're working on it. She is making progress, and that counts for something. I ask you all, as your future ruler and your friend, to be patient with her for now. If she weren't making progress, I would say she didn't deserve our patience, but she is."

I still didn't want to believe what she had been through—having both parents treating her like she was garbage for being a pony, which included her pony parent, and being taught from a young age not to trust anyone or feel loved. I understood why Krik had chosen to live in the Crystal Empire when he came to Equestria. It was for her. He wanted her to learn to accept and give love, and what better place to do that than the place that ran on love and positive feelings?

"Well…" the hotel clerk said, as if not sure what to say. "I suppose she can be here for your talk, Princess. If she wants to come, and as long as she doesn't make our guests feel unwelcome. I have to assure our guests are happy, you understand."

Flurry Heart nodded. "I understand. We will be here two hours after sunset and will stay an hour if that is alright."

"Of course, Princess," the clerk replied. "Let me get back to checking these guests in. A line is forming, and I don't like to delay our guests."

The alicorn giggled. "Yes, sir! I'll let you run your business. Thank you for being such an excellent hotel manager."

The stallion beamed under the praise and kept smiling as she and Jimsonweed departed. He then turned to me and passed me a key on a chain that would hang around my neck. "Here is your key for room two-hundred-one. Our bellhops have your luggage and will escort you to your room." He paused and then reached behind his desk to grab a pouch on a second chain which he passed to me. "That is your spending bits for today, as provided by Wild Growth. Please, return the unused bits and pouch to the lobby upon checkout tomorrow. She will provide you new bits in new pouches each day. This is her money she is letting you spend, be respectful of it and her."

"Will do!" I answered as I slipped the two chains around my neck. The pouch with the money was a little heavy, but not too bad.

A mare bellhop came forward, pushing a cart with my luggage, and the clerk gave her an odd look. "Who are you? Did you just start?"

The mare nodded. "Yes! I just started today. My name is Burssss—Crystal Burst! That's me! Sorry, in such a hurry all the time that I forget my own name!"

The clerk raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you one of Thorax's group blending in, Crystal Burst?"

The bellhop looked relieved for some reason. "Thorax, yes, definitely. How could you tell?"

The clerk rolled his eyes. "Call it a guess. I thought I knew who all of you on staff were, but you certainly seem new. Anyway, Burst, please escort Miss Riddle to her room and help her get her luggage there. Two-hundred-one is the room number. Be quick; we're going to have more guests waiting."

Burst saluted. "Yes, sir." She then looked at me. "Follow me, pony from Earth. I'll get you where you want to go."

I nodded and followed along. What a strange pony, but the hotel clerk didn't seem to be upset about her oddities. I was in a foreign land, and they probably had a bunch of weird stuff I wasn't used to.