//------------------------------// // Searching for a Way Home // Story: Twilight Sparkle's Otherworldly Misadventure // by ScrimpyMule //------------------------------// Twilight sat at a desk in John’s classroom at the college, listening to him give a lesson. It was Monday, and John had decided against leaving her alone at his house while he was at work. John was in the middle of one of his Western Civilization courses and they were currently covering the Athens/Persian War, more specifically, the Battle of Thermopolae. While Twilight found all the bloodshed in this world’s history revolting, she couldn’t deny that the subject was fascinating. She enjoyed the enthusiasm John displayed while he taught. Twilight’s attention drifted away form John when her eyes spotted the blouse she was wearing. The day before, he had taken her to a place called JC Penny and bought her several different outfits and a pair of shoes. She didn’t know how much $548.23 was compared to bits, but she knew it was a lot and she felt tremendous gratitude toward John for his willingness to go to such extremes to look after the needs of someone he hardly knew. They had spent all day Saturday and the latter half of Sunday on the Internet looking for something that would help them figure out how to get her back to Equestria, but had found nothing. John had told her that the college had a relatively decent library and there was a public library close by. They would search both high and low over the next few days. Twilight’s attention returned to John’s lecture in time for her to hear how the battle ended and how it affected the war between the Persians and the Greeks. John looked at the clock on the wall and realized he had no more time to spare. “We’ll pick up with the Battle of the Salimis Strait Wednesday. You can expect your first test of the semester in the next couple of weeks. Have a good Monday. I know it’s hard, but try anyway.” After all the students left the room, John spoke to Twilight. “Well, that’s my last class for the day. Let’s go to the cafeteria and get some lunch. After that I’ll have to stay in my office for at least an hour before I’m free to go.” They made their way to the cafeteria and John, who ate for free, paid for Twilight’s meal. She followed his example as he took the foods that he wanted, taking the same things. John had kindly foregone his relatively carnivorous lifestyle and adopted a temporary vegetarian diet for the sake of courtesy. Twilight had sampled some amazing food back home, but the cuisine in this world outranked Equestria by far. She made a scene with her expressions of delight as she enjoyed her chef’s salad, french fries, hot roll, and chocolate cake. The food wasn’t quite as good as the meal that John had cooked for her the night they had met, but it was still amazing. She caught John smiling at her several times and barely managed to smile back due to her embarrassment at her lack of self-control. When Twilight had eaten all she could and then some, they went back to John’s office and got on his computer. They searched for the whole hour in vain. They then made their way to the college library to search the hard books for a scientific solution to her problem. At five o’clock, they left the college and made their way to the public library. They searched there until the library closed down at nine o’clock. They went home to get something to eat and crawl into bed. The rest of the week was filled with the same routine. She accompanied John to the college and sat for several hours listening to him and learning more about the history of this world, the nation, and the various other subjects that he taught. After that, they would go and enjoy more of the wonderful food the college had to offer. The rest of the day would be filled with failure and regret. They would find theories and ideas about other dimensions and alternate realities, but there was nothing that discussed such travel in a serious and plausible manner. They were no closer to finding answer than they were the day they had started looking. “Well”, John began as they drove home late Friday night. “Neither of the libraries had anything. If there is a way, I think we’ll find it either on the Internet or through it.” Twilight didn’t respond. She simply watched the black scenery speed by. The pain in her heart was becoming too much to bear and tears were welling up in her eyes. John instinctively reached for her hand and grasped it in his own, trying to provide comfort with a simple gesture. “If there’s a way, we’ll find it.” She clasped his hand in turn, grateful to have a friend so willing to help her in her time of need. ~~~~~~~~ John lay on the couch that night, unable to wrap his mind around the situation he currently found himself in. He believed her. He had finally accepted the fact that the woman he had spent the last week with was, in fact, the REAL Twilight Sparkle. He didn’t understand how or why, but it was her. He had been playing along with her, hoping to be able to prove to her that she wasn’t the Mane Six pony in human form. In the end, it was he who had been persuaded. Every time John went over all the evidence in his mind, he was unable to produce a different answer. The lack of evidence suggesting that she had placed herself in that field with no clothing combined with her behavior over the past week had convinced him. It seemed that everything this woman did, Twilight Sparkle would have done the same. Every time she reacted to something, Twilight Sparkle would have reacted in the same manner. She was exactly like the pony in every way imaginable. He had observed her almost every waking moment since they had met, waiting for her to do or say something that didn’t match Twilight Sparkle’s personality. He had come up with nothing. She had explained how she had come to this world time and time again. It was the only scenario that even came close to matching everything that he had seen over the past week. He couldn’t deny her legitimacy any longer. He now found himself confronted with conflicting feelings. He knew that he had to help her get back to Equestria, where she belonged. They needed her there, but it was just as dire for her as it was for Equestria. She needed her friends, family, and old life before she lost her health and sanity to despair. On the other hand, he didn’t want her to go. Over the past week, he had developed feelings for Twilight. A selfish part of him wanted her to fail in her quest, and he hated himself for it. He had come to enjoy her company a great deal. Now that he knew she was who she claimed, he had no doubt that he would enjoy having her around even more. Watching her go would be harder than he had anticipated before. ~~~~~~~~ Saturday and Sunday were filled with even more disappointment. They had searched the Internet and come up with nothing. Twilight refused to give up hope, though. She was confident that eventually they would come across a solution. It may take time, but she would get home. In the mean time, she had a friend to help numb the heart-breaking loneliness. While she was confident that she would get back to Equestria, she was less than excited to leave her new friend. A friend to whom she was becoming more attached by the day.