Zecora woke me up. Sun wasn't even out yet. She needed my help with Spike. She already had her cloak on. Got out of bed and carefully lifted him up. Once I put him on her back, he insticntively grabbed onto her sides. Probably not his first time like this. I hobbled over to the door to open it for her. She told me where the food was, and that she would be back soon. I reminded her to try not and let her emotions get the better of her. She said take care, and made her way into the forest. I was more tired than hungry, so I'm going back to bed.
***
Saw the strange dark blue pony again. I was dreaming about home when she appeared. We actually had time to talk for once. Turns out she's a princess. Princess Luna to be precise. The Princess Celestia I've heard about is her sister. She said she has the ability to appear in the dreams of others. She didn't freak out at the sight of me. A nice change from my previous encounters. She had seen humans before apparently. Lyra dreams about them. Figured it would be a good idea to fill her in on Twilight's plan to put me in a cage and bring me to Celestia for study. She detested the idea of a sentient creature in a cage and said she would speak to her sister. That's a relief. I got a princess on my side now. I thanked her for any help she could give. She hoped we would meet soon. I woke up feeling a lot calmer.
Sun's up. Ate an apple for breakfast. These apples are amazing. Better than anything I can get back home. Whoever grows them really knows their stuff. Not the most filling breakfast though. I miss the hospital food already. Probably the first time someone's ever said that.
***
As I sit here in bed, I can't help but think about Zecora. I hope she's okay. I know she wasn't happy about her trust in the unicorn being betrayed. I wouldn't be in a good mood either if I was in her position. I'm only bothered because Twilight was so quick to dismiss my autonomy. For the sake of science. It made me question what else she would disregard for science. Maybe it's my paranoia, but I just can't trust a pony like that now. I know I can trust Zecora. Perhaps in the future she won't be the only four-legged creature I can trust.
***
Zecora's finally back. Good. I was getting bored out of my mind. I asked her how things went. She had no smile on her face. She shook her head. Despite my attempts, her emotions led to a public outburst. According to her, she had dropped off Spike in front of the tree Twilight lives in. She was halfway through Ponyville when Twilight caught up to her. The unicorn had asked if she knew where I was. Apparently the nerdy nuisance wanted to ask more questions.
The zebra had her negative emotions brewing the whole walk it seemed. She had publicly exploded at Twilight. Right when other ponies were out and about. I admired the zebra for calling her out on betraying the trust she had in her. She shouted at her about how despicable it was to put a creature in a cage because it was alien. Twilight had fired back. Shouted about procedures for handling aliens. How I was a scientific marvel that needed to be contained. It seemed their shouting match had gathered an audience. Yet, that wasn't the worst part. A pony for the local newspaper was there. Apparently they had a fast turnover rate with stories, as Zecora had the newspaper with her.
It even had a picture of Twilight and Zecora staring each other down. It was a little bit impressive they got the story out so fast. Though most of the story seemed to be Twilight trying to make her point. There was a bit of my zebra friend making hers. The rest was speculation on what I looked like and if I was dangerous.
She felt horrible. She allowed herself to lose control of her emotions. I told her it wasn't too bad. She wanted to know how this wasn't bad. It was simple. Since the newspaper made this an "us vs them" situation, there would be ponies willing to help me. Folks always take sides. Despite her proclivity to privacy, this zebra was the face of "Team Freedom" now. I said that Twilight would no doubt be trying to use her position as the face of "Team Cage" to find me. We needed to take advantage of the situation and get some ponies to help us.
Zecora wondered if any ponies shared her view. Twilight was such a public figure that ponies all over the land knew. Meanwhile she was only known as the scary zebra that spoke in rhymes. She wasn't much of the public type. She doubted the ponies on our side would be able to match those Twilight would have on hers.
Our conversation has been cut short by a knock at the door. Zecora wasn't expecting anyone. She went to the door and I hobbled behind her. I had the cane behind me, ready to swing.
***
Good news! It wasn't Twilight or Team Cage ready to drag me off to who knows where. It was Lyra. Zecora was ready to slam the door, but the minty mare wanted to beg for my forgiveness. A roar from an unknown creature sent her scrambling inside anyways. We shrugged our shoulders. Zecora went to make tea while I went to talk to Lyra.
***
This is really good tea. Lyra's spent the past ten minutes at my feet apologizing for her selfish actions with no letup. Everything from staring at humans without their permission, to forcing scratchies out of me. Saying she didn't think about how I felt during all of it. After she finally stopped to breathe, I told her she was forgiven. She got up and hugged me. She said she was Team Freedom all the way now. That was good news. One less pony on Team Cage at least.
Now she was calmed down and sipping away at tea. Zecora didn't like the idea of her being here. Given today's and yesterday's events, I don't blame her for not trusting other ponies with my safety. Given Lyra's interest in humans was mostly akin to a hobby, I wasn't too worried.
Lyra asked what our plan was. Zecora said our goal was to keep me away from Twilight for now. Our new recruit said we should talk to Princess Celestia. I casually mentioned I had already talked to Princess Luna. They both stared at me in shock. I told them that I went back to bed after Zecora left, and she met me in my dream. She said she would speak to her sister about Twilight wanting to cage me. They were both excited, as that would be a huge help in our plan.
Speaking of which, we still needed to flesh it out. My growling stomach had other plans though. Unfortunately, my zebra friend had planned to stock up on food in town after dropping off Spike. She was too embarrassed to go back into Ponyville. Lyra immediately piped up. She volunteered to go into town and get some food. At least a couple days worth. She even decided to pay for it all herself. Her way of supporting Team Freedom she said. We had no arguments.
***
While we waited for Lyra to come back, we had a visitor. It was some journalist. Apparently they wondered if she knew where the "hoomin" was. I only just realized they don't know how to spell or pronounce the word "human". Oh well. Zecora told him no. They asked if advocating for my freedom was the best idea. She lectured him on not judging a book by its cover. A notion she understood well. She said that "Since the day he came to me, I have never seen him bring harm to another pony". She closed the door, and I closed the curtain of the bedside window. A good call since the journalist went there next. I think she handled it well.
***
Lyra should be back soon. Zecora and I have spent some time actually coming up with a plan. We need to get me to Canterlot Castle. Hopefully Princess Luna talked to her sister about my predicament. Though we very well can't just go to the local train station and get some tickets there. We don't know whose on Team Cage and whose Team Freedom. This division is starting to show its downsides. We were thinking of taking the earliest train.
I'm hoping Princess Celestia can help me find a way home. Zecora said if I really was trapped here forever, I was more than welcome to stay. It was a kind gesture. I'm not sure how viable that would be. There are only so many places to hide, and I can't run forever. Even with the crystal able to teleport me back into the forest, they'll figure that out eventually. I mentioned how nice it would be to know who made the crystal that brought me here.
I peeked out the window when I heard something. It's Lyra. She's back with food.
***
Lyra went the extra mile for me and got some eggs for breakfast. I thanked her for the kind gesture. I'm glad she's making an effort to accept the protein requirements of humans. She got a decent variety of fruits and veggies as well. Our zebra host immediately started cooking some of the veggies. Lyra split an apple with me while we waited.
I asked Lyra how things were going in Ponyville since this morning's events. Twilight's been in her home since the argument with Zecora. Apparently, she's pouring over every spell she can think of to track me down. Her five friends are on her side, waiting to move out when she finds me. Some ponies are taking sides. The only major concern Lyra had was when she got questioned by some random ponies for buying the eggs. I was initially concerned if she was followed, but she told me she was careful.
Almost lunchtime and this day has been pretty exciting.
***
For a plate of veggies, this zebra can cook. Maybe her offer of being a roommate wouldn't be so bad. At least if I wasn't being tracked down by a super nerd that wants to put me in a cage. As we ate, we filled Lyra in on the train plan. She said getting there first thing in the morning would be the best. We would have to leave before sunrise. That meant an early bedtime for all of us.
We would have to go not only through the Everfree Forest, we would have to walk through all of Ponyville. After that, we would have to get three train tickets. It was as good a plan as any. Lyra would meet us there. So far this was working out. Though saying that probably jinxed it.
***
My luck is beyond bad today. Did I break a mirror? Did I walk under a ladder?
We were just finishing up lunch. We heard the sound of something slam against the door, followed by the shout of "mail call". Zecora opened the door just a crack to see it was a mailman(mailpony?). She went by the name Derpy. Lyra and I had to stifle a chuckle. She had been watching humans long enough to know why.
It was a letter. Zecora didn't look happy. I looked at the letter. It was from Twilight. Describing it won't translate how screwed we are, so I'll copy the message in my journal. Lyra translated it for me.
Dear Zecora
I am sorry it has come to this. I didn't mean for this human to thrust you into the spotlight. I know you prefer the quiet life in the forest. Though it seems this alien has brought out a new side of you. I wonder if it's from being so close to him, or relating to the notion feeling like an alien yourself sometimes. If you have him, I know asking you to hoof him over is a fruitless endeavor. It's clear you want him to be free. I want that too, but I want to understand this creature first. I'm sorry it's come to this. I've put up a bounty of five hundred bits for the capture of the human. I won't announce it until tomorrow morning. Perhaps one day you can forgive me for going this far.
Sincerely,
Twilight.
P.S.
Thank you for bringing Spike back. His memory seems fuzzy, but I'm glad he's okay.
***
So the entire plan just went out the window. I can't risk showing my face if other ponies are gonna be hunting me down for a reward. I don't know the currency conversion, but it seems like five hundred is a LOT. What if word of the bounty gets to Canterlot? This wasn't good. Out of desperation, I asked Zecora if she had any potions that could help. She had to rub her hoof on her chin to think about it for a bit. It was a hard maybe.
I asked Lyra for her thoughts. She had nothing. This bounty just screwed up everything.
***
We came to a decision. We're gonna take a chance and stick with the original plan of taking the train super early. We've spent an hour or so planning our route through Ponyville and Canterlot. We're trying to plan for any ponies that might start hunting for the bounty. Though Zecora's been working on a Plan B of sorts. She won't say what. She's been mixing stuff together for a few hours. Testing stuff over and over. I asked Lyra to go home. She wanted to stay, but it was for the best. Others might get suspicious if she's gone too long. If ponies ask her, she'll say she was having tea with Zecora.
***
I've passed the time helping Zecora. She tried to argue against it. I told her I wasn't gonna be cooped up in that bed all day. I've been grabbing things off the high shelves. I asked if she was planning to share what Plan B was going to be. She said it was rather desperate, so it was better I didn't know. Fair enough.
She took a break. It was about dinnertime anyways. Now I'm getting nudged back to bed. If I was six foot, they wouldn't be able to get away with this so much. Sometimes I hate being short. The dinner makes up for it.
***
Not a fun way to end the day. At sunrise tomorrow, there's a bounty for my capture. By that time, we will hopefully be on a train to see the ruler of these lands. Maybe she can call off Twilight or send me home. Preferably both.