"Oops! Not that way!" Burst said as she hurried back with the cart from the hall she had been going down. She immediately started down the opposite corridor. "This one… I think."
I started following again after she passed me. "You said today was your first day?"
"First day, definitely," Burst confirmed. Her eyes lit up. "Ah! Here we are! Your room. You'll need to unlock it. I don't have a key."
I walked over to the door and unlocked it. It opened easily after being unlocked, and I stepped through into my room for the night.
The room was done in the same crystal as the rest of the hotel, and all the furniture was done in a blue-white crystal—furniture consisting of a bed, vanity, nightstand, two chairs, small lamp (which I saw no plug or outlet for so I wasn't sure how it worked), and a small table. The chairs didn't look that comfortable since they had no cushions. However, the bed appeared extremely comfortable and had a lovely quilt with a picture of the Crystal Heart in it. There were two small windows with white curtains pulled back, and they let through a pleasant amount of sunlight.
"A small tip; don't turn your back on somepony when you're alone with them. You never know who you can trust," I heard Burst say in an ominous tone.
That was worrisome. I spun around and took several steps back. However, Burst just pushed the cart with my luggage into the room and began unloading it. Seeing that didn't turn out to be a threat—or at least, I didn't think it was, I relaxed and waited for her to finish. This seemed to be a weird pony. I hadn't met many Equestrians, so I couldn't say how weird.
"Here we are. All unloaded," Burst announced as she set my last piece of luggage next to the bed. "Do you have family staying here?"
I shook my head. "No, I don't." The odd pony got a gleam and her eye and slowly advanced towards me. "But I have several friends from school here with me."
Burst halted in her tracks and took a step back. "Good friends, who know you well?"
I smiled and nodded. "Yep! At least Sunflower and Blanche know me well. I have just met two other people from my town that are here, and I know Wild Growth and some of her family—the Warden of Fear's foals and their bodyguard."
Burst took several steps back now and looked ashamed for some reason. "You're friends with Wild Growth? That's great. I hear she is quite the pony. I need to get going and help other guests. Are all the guests friends with Wild Growth?"
"I don't think so, just contest winners," I answered. "I know Wild Growth from somewhere else."
And just like that, Burst's mood seemed to improve again. "Good to know! I hope you enjoy your stay in Equestria, and may it be a brief one!"
She turned to go, but I called out to her. "Wait! I need to give you your tip!"
"Tip?" she gasped. She then rushed towards me, startling me and forcing me to back up. "Did Chrysalis change her mind? Did she send you to help me? Thank you, thank you! I need help so much!"
I blinked and took a few steps back before gesturing to the pouch hanging from my neck. "I don't know anyone named Chrysalis. I meant a tip like a gratuity for helping with my luggage."
Burst practically deflated. "Oh."
"Who is Chrysalis?" I asked, taking a step back towards her. "Is that a friend of yours? What do you need help with? Maybe I can help you."
She shook her head, looking miserable. "Not a friend. Just someone I know. She likes to laugh and make fun of me and told me I was a buffoon. She likes using that word for me, buffoon." She suddenly grit her teeth and scowled. "I can't help not being smart! It isn't my fault I got messed up in the head, but I'm going to fix it! Even if she doesn't want to help me." Those last few sentences were in perfect English, not Equestrian.
"You seem to know English well. That should help out a lot today with dealing with guests," I said in English, guessing this had something to do with her new job and trying to encourage her.
Her eyes shrank to pin-sized. "Forget I used that!" she said in Equestrian. "Also, don't worry about the tip. I consider the learning experience tip enough. Enjoy your stay!" And with that, she rushed out of the room.
"Equestrians seem to be weird so far, but I'm okay with being weird," I said to myself. Oh well, time to go out and do some shopping!
I went to my luggage and put on my regular saddlebag for going out. I also fished around and found the pamphlet that said what was okay to bring back and what wasn't and began looking it over. My ears sagged as one of the first things listed that couldn't be brought back home was anything made out of crystal or gems. Glass and metal were okay—depending on the metal, as were most cloth items. Anything made with paper, I had to verify that the paper was not enchanted. Food, plants, wildlife rounded out the list of unacceptable items. It also informed me that each item would be inspected before my return for any potential contraband and that I wouldn't be punished for any honest mistakes, but could receive fines or worse if they felt I was deliberately trying to smuggle something through.
That was fine. I was sure I could find some small souvenirs that fit the acceptable category and the food I didn't need to bring back anywhere but my tummy.
Before leaving, I decided to do a quick check of how the bed felt and check out the bathroom, just to see if I needed any towels or anything like that.
A quick jump on the bed left me feeling unbalanced as it wobbled and swayed. I immediately panicked for a moment where I thought I might have one of those cloud beds I heard some pegasi in Equestria had. My ability to cloud-walk was suspect at best, more like cloud-slowly-sink-like-quicksand, definitely not walk. I was the worst cloud-walking pegasus I had ever heard of, and a cloud bed would not work. However, I quickly realized it wasn't a cloud bed; it was a water bed! I hadn't ever slept on a waterbed before. There was a slight urge to jump on an unfamiliar bed, but I didn't because I was afraid I would pop it or something. Instead, I pushed my weight down a few times and felt the bed do a wave inside it. That elicited a giggle from me. I'm a simple pony who can enjoy the small things in life.
I left the bed with some reluctance and went to check the bathroom. It was done up in light blue and white crystal; it had a shower but no tub, but that didn't bother me at all. There seemed to be plenty of fluffy white towels and two toilets, one sized for ponies and one for humans—which was nice. There was no air dryer, which meant I would be forced to dry myself with towels, and that was inconvenient, and there was no feather bin. I guess I could just toss my feathers in the trash can, but it seemed so wasteful. Feathers gathered in feather bins typically got repurposed into other products. I would think Equestrians would be eager to save them, especially since quills were known to be a preferred writing method for unicorns.
There was no point in unpacking the rest of my stuff if I would just need to pack it up again tomorrow morning. I'd read a little of my assigned English lit book tonight—A Clockwork Orange. I wasn't familiar with the book, but the title seemed promising for something weird and off the wall. Hopefully, it would be something funny to make me giggle before bed.
With no more reason to hang around my room, I went out into the hall and saw that several different people, including my fellow candidates, were just getting to their rooms. It seemed that the check-in process was going fast after a minute or two delay. Sunflower was the only one I didn't see, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was already in her room—especially since I saw a different bellhop leaving the room next to mine and she had been next in line behind me.
Blanche was standing around fussing at some other humans, who were, in turn, fussing with a bellhop who looked very flustered and anxious.
"You need to speak in Equestrian to them," Blanche said in Equestrian to the other humans. "They don't know any Earth languages, certainly not ours."
An older woman put one hand on her hip and started talking quickly in a language I did not recognize at all while making rapid gestures with her other hand at the bellhop.
Blanche rubbed her head as if soothing a headache. "Mom, please, using Equestrian isn't just a courtesy here; it is what we need to do to communicate. You can't expect these ponies to know Flemish. Why are you being so difficult?"
Her mom chattered off something else in what I assumed was Flemish.
Blanche went red-faced and stomped a foot, making the bellhop squeak and cower. "That is a blatant lie! You did have the spell cast on you; otherwise, you wouldn't understand what I'm saying right now!"
Her mom put a hand up to her ear and shook her head while saying more of the gibberish I assumed was Flemish.
"Mom! Don't try to play ignorant about being able to understand me now!" Blanche yelled, red-faced. "We're in Equestria, and we're going to speak Equestrian while we are here."
"Everything okay, Blanche?" I called out in Equestrian. I was going to stick to Equestrian while here; it sounded pretty, almost like singing.
She looked at me and gave a resigned shake of her head. "Just dealing with difficult relatives."
I nodded. "I see that. Hey, did you want to be with me and explore around town? It is impossible to get lost here. It is just like Skytree; you always have the big landmark in the center of town you can determine your position by."
She shook her head. "Sorry, Rebecca, but I haven't gotten to see my family in over a month and a half. I promised I would spend as much of the first day with them as possible. I think Sunflower promised her family the same. Maybe you can try one of the guys and be the first of us to get to know them."
I perked my ears. "That's a good idea! Thanks, Blanche, and good luck with the whole language thing."
"I need it," Blanche muttered, and she went back to trying to deal with her parents.
I walked past them and quickly found Jonathan talking with some other humans in the hallway, who I assumed were his family.
"Hi, Jonathan! It's me, Rebecca, although you can see that. Want to go exploring the town with me?"
He looked at me and adjusted his glasses. "While I wouldn't mind doing so later, I want to spend some time with my family for right now. If you still wish to do so tonight, I will happily join you. I would enjoy learning about each of you who are also from Skytree."
I noticed a pattern here. I felt left out, being the only one who didn't have my family here with me, and I suddenly wished my parents had managed to clear their schedules to come with me. I knew they were busy and had already used up their vacation for the year except for what they intended to use if I got elected Dreamwarden. They had lives of their own.
I smiled. "Sure! Have fun with your family." I then spotted Roger and a night pony mare getting escorted to a room by another bellhop. "Hey, Roger! Want to come with me and go exploring?"
Roger jumped and looked around before spotting me. He then settled. "I don't know. I like to keep to myself a lot of-"
"Roger will happily come," the night pony mare said over him. "He doesn't get out enough."
He quickly turned to face her. "Mom! I was going to spend time with you and—"
The mare held up a hoof. "I'm going to be sleeping, so I won't be much company. It would be best if you socialized more. It isn't every day a nice young mare asks you for company. I know crowds make you nervous, but it won't get better if you don't put yourself out there more. You know I worry about you."
He hung his head. "I know you worry. I don't think she is interested in my company for the reasons you think. Rebecca and I are in competition for the same job."
The mare turned and narrowed her eyes at me. "Really? Well, all the more reason for you to spend time with her. Go on; you need to step up if you want to get this job, and the biggest thing holding you back is your shyness. Be bold!"
"Yes, Mom," he replied in a dejected tone.
I hurried over to him and draped a wing over his back. "Don't worry, I might be heavy, but I've never eaten a pony. I'm not interested in undermining you for the job either. I want the best of is to win, even if it doesn't turn out to be me."
The night pony mare looked at her son. "Do you believe her?"
He nodded, seeming to relax a little. "She believes what she says. Okay, let's do this."
"Great!" I shouted. "Let's go shopping, and we can learn about each other. You can meet the rest of us tonight."