You walked downstairs whilst rubbing some very persistent sleep out of your eyes. The light throbbing in your head was accompanied by a strong urge to pee, and each step down the stairs enhanced the intensity of both feelings.
Twilight was running around in a seemingly random pattern as she collected books and parchment, levitating them into a satchel sitting on the center table. Meanwhile, Spike was cleaning up the candles and paint that had been making a mess on the floor ever since you first arrived in Equestria.
“You sure know how to make a big mess in such short amount of time,” said Spike while scrubbing the paint that made up the runic circle.
“I’m sorry, there’s been so much going on I never found the time to clean up.” Trotting over to the satchel, she put a final vial of ink into the bag before closing it. “There, that should be everything I need for the trip,” Twilight concluded and proceeded to float the satchel onto her back while moving towards the coat hanger. Spike noticed her putting on a scarf and stood up to shoot a concerned glance her way.
“You’re not even going to eat breakfast?” you heard Spike say while you threw your own bag over your shoulders.
“There’s no time for that now, Spike. The train won’t wait for us if we’re late.” It looked like she just fully realized this herself, because as soon as she was done saying it she hurried even more.
“Well... when will you be back?” Twilight seemed to calm down somewhat after hearing her dear assistant worry. Giving him a reassuring smile, she walked over to give him a hug.
“I don’t know Spike. Not too long I hope. But I know I’ll need you to take care of the library while I’m gone.” She took a step back and looked him in the eyes. “Are you up to the task?” She said it like it was a challenge, and Spike gave her a brave smile.
“No problem!” He said proudly with his claws on the hips and his chest buffed. “I’ll take care of things here, I am a dragon after all.”
Twilight smiled at him.
“Good, I knew I could count on you.” Her horn started glowing as she started to head towards the door, and a scarf covered in a lavender aura flew your way. “And this is for you. It’s chilly outside.”
“Fair enough. Thanks.” You smiled gratefully as you gripped the soft piece of fabric and tossed it around your neck as you went for the door.
Before bending down to walk out the pony-sized opening, you turned to your scaly acquaintance. “It was really nice meeting you, Spike. Take care.” He looked at you with a grin.
“Nice to meeting you too. Hope you find what you’re looking for.” You nodded back at him, then stepped outside.
You felt a little guilty having Twilight leave the little dragon here all by himself on your account. Then again, he wasn’t all alone in Ponyville. Fluttershy would probably be more than happy to keep him company if need be.
Besides, Twilight would be back as soon as she could. As soon as you were gone...
The cold air was brushing against your exposed face and arms, making you yearn for the warmth back at the cozy library. Half of the sun was already shining its light over the horizon, and you had trouble keeping up with Twilight as she was nearly in a full gallop through town. The streets that had been crawling with ponies during the day now looked desolate. Only a few ponies opening their stores were sighted as you rushed to the train station.
After passing the town square, you saw the station up ahead, with the train already docked.
“There it is! Let’s hurry, it might leave at any moment now!” Twilight yelled and picked up the pace even more, like you weren’t falling behind enough already. You made a valiant effort to shout back despite your lack of breath.
“Wait up!” She didn’t show any signs of slowing down, so you had no choice than to just keep up to the best of your ability. “You have four legs! It’s not fair!”
Exhausted, you caught up with Twilight who stood on the platform waiting for you. You walked up the steps and bent down to catch your breath. Twilight barely looked phased from the morning run.
“It’s... far too early... to be running around.”
“Well, we made it, didn’t we?” Twilight stated happily. “The conductor hasn’t even entered the train yet.” She gestured towards to a Pony wearing a blue conductor vest and hat, who was walking directly towards you.
“Good morning there, you two,” said the colt. He sounded very formal, and his voice was surprisingly deep, considering his size. “Might one of you be Miss Twilight Sparkle?” You and Twilight looked at one-another, then back to the conductor.
“Yes... I am Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight stated.
“Did you think there was a faint possibility that it was me who was Miss Twilight Sparkle?” You said jokingly. The conductor gave off a short laugh.
“Oh, no, of course not,” he said while taking off his rather fancy hat. “I was told by a royal guard who was told by Princess Celestia personally that I was to make sure you caught the train today. Apparently you are going to Canterlot, correct?”
“The princess must really want to see us.” said Twilight with a cheer.
“More importantly,” you said while straightening up and looked at the conductor pony. “Does that mean you can wait just a minute longer?” He looked a little confused as to why you made the request.
“I suppose so,” he answered. “May I ask why?”
“Is something wrong?” Twilight inquired.
Finally having caught your breath, you immediately made a sprint for the small outhouse with a moon engraved on the door that stood next to the platform.
“I just really gotta go. Be right back!” You swiftly opened the door and slammed it shut behind you.
You were surprised to see that the toilet looked oddly like a normal one. Well, you were used to seeing toilets like this all the time, but what surprised you was it didn’t have any special design that made it seem customized for the usage of ponies. You would think that at least something would be different from a normal human made outhouse - you had a difficult time imagining Twilight pooping on this thing. You supposed it was a general statement, though. Not that it made anything less convenient. The pressure relief was just as satisfactory.
The train was just as empty as the streets of Ponyville at this hour. The interior of the car looked much like the living room of a wooden house, except the only furniture were benches and tables bolted to the floor and walls.
The two of you chose to get seated on either side of a fold-out table. The seats were simple benches with fluffy, red cushions on the seat and back, and certainly of higher quality than what you were used to. The cushions were soft and would definitely make the journey a comfortable one. You placed your bags underneath the table as you sat down.
The steam whistle blew, and you felt the train accelerate as it started its trip towards Canterlot. For a long while you and Twilight simply stared out the window at Ponyville as it was slowly devoured by the horizon.
Twilight broke the silence after Ponyville was out of sight.
“Did you ever expect to go to another dimension?” You figured you might as well answer honestly.
“No, but sometimes I would hope for something like this to happen.” Twilight perked up and turned away from the window to look at you.
“Really? Weren’t you happy where you were?” She seemed more interested now than when she asked the first question.
You took a moment to think about it before trying to satisfy Twilight’s curiosity.
“Have you ever read a fiction novel you couldn’t put down? Something so good you would wish that it was real, or that you could experience some of its content first-hand?”
“It happens, of course. But I never lose sight of what is real and what isn’t.”
“Well, sometimes after I read a novel, I long for a place where things are different. Maybe because the author made his world so perfect that perhaps it wouldn’t be normal not to long for it.
As for separating fiction and reality... This world would be considered fiction in my world. So how am I supposed to categorize the two now?” You grinned.
Twilight sat across the table like a dog would sit on a sofa, which to you looked a little awkward. Why wouldn’t they have more pony-friendly seats?
“I can see what you mean, but that doesn’t really answer my question.”
“I guess I just wanted to experience something otherworldly,” you answered.
Like this, conversation topics flew by. Among other things you had asked if she knew who invented the Equestrian steam engine. She had told you the invention was credited to a scholar named Intuition about a hundred years ago. No one had bothered making any improvements to his train designs, so they still used the original blueprints when building new cars and locomotives.
The conversations eventually came to a stop, as both you and Twilight ended up just staring out the window. Thinking about whatever came to mind, you slipped back into analyzing the situation with Twilight and the summoning spell. You decided you wanted to hear what she was thinking of this whole situation.
"Why do you think the spell did what it did?" you asked her.
It took a little while before she answered.
"I’ve been thinking about it, and I have ruled it down to three possibilities." She took a moment to face you before continuing. "The first option would be that the spell didn't work, Meaning it wouldn't have done anything, or done something it wasn't designed for. The latter is rather rare, but obviously something did happen.
Second option, the spell did exactly what it was designed for, but the diagram or the description was wrong. To confirm those I need to study the rune I used to fully understand the design and its purpose." Twilight took a long pause as she drifted away into her own thoughts.
"And the third possibility?" You already had a faint idea of what it was going to be, but wanted to hear her say it anyway. Twilight turned her gaze to the window.
"Third option. It did work. The description is without flaw, and the spell did what it was made for." The redness returned to her cheeks. You wanted to think that you now knew what you both were thinking, but you wouldn't pursue it further based on that assumption. With what the third option implied in mind, a mix of feelings built up in your chest.
"Well, which do you think is more likely?" Now you were starting to feel uneasy, like a lump was stuck in your throat.
"I don't know what to think. At first I thought it had to be option one or two, but now I'm not so sure,” she explained, then paused for a second. “I want to go to the Canterlot archives to investigate it further before saying anything for certain." You felt your heart beating faster. You hadn't thought this through. How were you going to respond to what she was saying?
Twilight continued before you got to say anything.
"But leaving the why aside. Going to research the spell might give us a clue how to get you home." Twilight looked up at you, with her eyes betraying her smile. You smiled back at her, wanting to reassure her somehow.
"What I do know is that coming here has been one of the best experiences of my life. Also, I feel that spending a day just talking with you wouldn't have been a day wasted." Twilight giggled behind a hoof for a moment before looking back at you.
"You're really a smooth talker, you know that?"
"I've had my suspicions for a while." You said with a smug tone.
After jokingly leaving the subject, and with both of you being tired from the night before, the conversations died down into thoughts. You hadn’t asked her how long the journey would take, but even after a little while there were no signs of a tall castle. And eventually, you dozed off.
“Hello? Wake up, this is your stop.” You tried to ignore the disturbance at first, but quickly remembered where you were, and with a twitch you came to your senses. “Ah good. We’ve arrived in Canterlot. You should wake up your friend and leave the train. Exits are on the left side of the car.” the conductor instructed as he left.
You saw Twilight curled up on the red cushions facing you, breathing lightly as she slept. You would have just let her sleep if the circumstances were different, but you thought it best if you got off the train. The conductor hadn’t been able to wake her by speaking to her, so you nudged her hoof with your shoe.
“Twilight. I think we’re here.” you said, hoping you didn’t have to poke her harder. She gave off a cute grunt before slowly raising her head to look out the window.
“Wha... Oh, shoot. I slept the whole trip?” She quickly got up and let herself down on the floor. “Come on, we’re getting off,” she ordered as she used her magic to pick up her bag. Watching her placing it on her back reminded you of your own bag. You gracefully threw yourself back to grab it by the strap.
You didn’t know how long the train ride had lasted, but seeing the sun nearly in the middle of the sky you would guess four to six hours. Or ten to twelve, depending on whether it was just past or just before noon; you couldn’t really distinguish if it was still early, or getting late. The latter seemed unlikely as it didn’t feel like you had slept that long.
All around you heard the ambience of the talking crowd and the screeching trains. For an instant it got rather loud as a train blew its whistle on the opposite side of the platform. You could barely make out Twilight instructing you to follow her over all the ruckus. It was just like being in a shopping mall at rush hour, plus trains.
The Canterlot train station looked a lot different than the one in Ponyville. For one thing it was bigger, it reminded you more of a central station like you would expect them to look back home, only scaled down a notch. Several platforms with tracks on either side were covered with ponies waiting for their transportation.
The station was pretty much out in the open as the only thing separating it from the city were shops that seemed to sell things from all corners of Equestria. One looked to be selling cherries. Another close to it sold porcelain sets of cups and plates. Rather, the place was more like a medieval dock than a train station. Like it was a place where out of towners could come and make their wares known to the capital.
Twilight trotted in the direction of a tall tower that could be seen rising up above the other buildings. As you were shadowing her through the masses, you noticed the stares of ponies that followed you. You did the only thing you could do, which was to smile and nod at the most intensive on-lookers. You didn’t take it as offensive; if a pony was walking through a crowd back home, he would probably get bombarded by stares too.
After the density of ponies was thinning out, you began to admire the surroundings. Looking up at the white tower you started to feel excited about meeting Celestia, and perhaps even Luna. But the peak of excitement occurred when you heard something familiar approaching behind you through the crowd.
“Twilight, dear. Wait up!” You could smell the perfume before you had fully turned around, which only strengthened your suspicions. Twilight had also heard, and turned to meet her glamorous friend.
“Rarity? Hey!” She traced back to meet Rarity half way, and they embraced eachother with a hug. “It’s so good to see you. What are you doing here?” said Twilight cheerfully. You stood behind her admiring the white unicorn, your eyes ending up on her large pink hat. It was round with a purple ribbon tied around the base of the crown and in the wide rim on the left rested a pair of large white roses.
“I was here waiting for you, of course.” She looked over at you. “And this must be our guest that I've heard about. Pleasure to meet you.”
You decided to try and impress her.
“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Rarity,” you said as you bowed graciously.
“Oh my, humans are certainly well mannered, aren't they.” She seemed pleased and looked up at you with dazzling eyes. “But I left the ‘Miss’ behind almost six months ago. It’s ‘Madame’ nowadays.” she said while casually waving a hoof.
“Well, I guess a late congratulation is in order then.” You gave her another short bow.
“Why, thank you dear.” She smiled and turned her head back to Twilight. “I like him. I don’t think there will be any problem with letting you two stay with me.” Twilight looked mildly confused hearing what she said.
“Not that I mind, but how did it end up with us staying at your place? I sort of assumed that...”
“Oh, how rude of me,” Rarity interrupted her. “Celestia asked me if I would’ve liked to house you while you were staying. She also told me which train you would be arriving with, but when the train arrived I couldn’t spot you anywhere and I thought you might have missed it. I was just about leaving when I saw you walking out at the other end of the platform.”
“Well that was thoughtful of her, I was wondering how I was going to spend some time with you while researching. This makes everything a whole lot simpler.” Twilight smiled and nodded in understanding.
“And it’s good to see someone else that are always trying to look their best.” She said while gesturing to your ‘finely’ dressed self. She analyzed your clothes for a moment with experienced eyes. ”That doesn’t look very fitting for the season, don’t you think? They don’t look very warm.” she gave your outfit a last glance before continuing. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to make you some new garments, free of charge of course.”
The element of generosity strikes. Clothes made by Rarity herself? The thought alone gave you a tingling feeling.
“It would be an honor to wear the work of an artist,” you said with the intent of flattering her, which seemed to work very well, as she looked pleased with the answer.
“I should also mention that Celestia said that you could see her after her meeting with the city council. She should still be in there now, so let’s talk more back at my residence, shall we?” she said while motioning you and Twilight to walk with her. She went in a direction that led you ninety degrees away from the white tower.
Again you were surprised by the size of the place. On TV, Canterlot had seemed like it consisted of only a compact castle, but in reality it looked more like a medieval city. And there were ponies everywhere. Too many to count. It was a lot to take in, and caring about the ponies giving you stares was getting tiring.
You decided to not worry about them. All you thought about were things that mattered. Like how the meeting with Celestia would go. Whether you would learn anything new about how and why you were here, or maybe how to get back. Although right now, returning home wasn’t on a high priority. Spending some time and explore Equestria seemed a lot more attractive than going home.
At least during whatever happened next, you would be wearing fancy, Rarity-tailored clothes.