//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: A Long Fall // Story: The Best Babysitter // by pchn00 //------------------------------// Chapter 3: A Long Fall Jennifer frowned down at the hanky in her hands. ‘Luna?’ She thought. ‘I thought her name was Lucy…it could be her mom’s I guess but something about that girl was weird…and she knows Pennie! something is definitely going on here, and I’m gonna find out what!’ She set out for home with a determined gait, making quick progress. The park was only a ten minute walk from home, and she was in the door and upstairs in a hurry. She’d spent enough time in the park that school would be over by now anyway so she didn’t have to worry about her mom wondering why she was home early. Not that she normally took notice of Jen’s comings and goings. Mom always hoped for a more delicate ‘feminine’ daughter, instead she got one who was a lot more interested in exploring every tree in the local woods and sketching out anything that caught her eye. Isabelle lifted her head and gave a few lazy wags of her tail as her owner slipped into her room and shut the door. She paused to give her dog a quick scratch between the ears before digging out the camping pack her uncle had gotten her one year. Uncle Derek was a big hunting nut and when he found out Jen had been given a ‘hunting dog’ for her fourteenth birthday he took it upon himself to bring her and the beagle to his cabin up north, giving her a two week crash course in hunting and wilderness survival. Also trying (semi-successfully), to train the eternally lazy dog to do some proper hunting. ‘But!’ Jen thought with a smile. ‘We did get her to follow a scent.’ She tightened the laces on her shoes and stuffed a few of the outdoors necessities her uncle grilled into her to always bring out when she went on a, (potentially) long hike. Canteen, compass, flashlight, and a lighter. She threw Izzy’s leash and collar on and led the suddenly excited dog back out the door and to the park. “Right then! This isn’t a for fun trip Iz, we have business.” Isabelle for her part was just excited as can be to out and about, usually preferring to sleep the day away she really came alive when that leash came out. It wasn’t long before Jen led her dog back to the spot Lucy’s trail disappeared, and she fished the hanky from her pocket. “Alright, do your stuff.” She held the piece of silk out toward Izzy who eagerly sniffed a few times, then turned straining her leash. Jen let her loose and she took off like a shot, sniffing the ground rapidly. She’d bound ahead out of sight, then come back with her trademark yowl, waiting for Jen to catch up. Jen did keep a quick pace, jogging up and keeping the trail her dog left in sight at all times. Several times Isabelle would pause and look confused, sniffing and trotting about in a circle, before she straightened and shot off again. Frowning at the odd behavior Jen kept pushing deeper into the woods. After a good half hour of this they came to the barb wire fence to ward trespassers from the wildlife preserve ahead. Usually she had a healthy respect for the law, (not to mention the potentially dangerous wild animals in the preserve) but Izzy’s behavior, Lucy disappearing, all of it was making her more curious than ever. She gripped the fence and pried an opening, allowing first Izzy to jump through then following herself, letting out a little curse as the barbs pierce her less then thick gloves. That little thrill of excitement she used to get from exploring new places was rising in her, helping her forget both the trespassing and the (hopefully) hibernating bears. The sun was well on its way over the horizon and a bright full moon was shining down, so bright she didn’t even need the flashlight. Jen paused for a moment just to take in the evening. She loved night time, much preferring it to day. The night just had a haunting beauty she found appealing. She didn’t get to pause long before Isabelle gave an annoyed yowl and darted off again. So they continued on, another hour passed before the dog finally stopped, and began to bark furiously. Jen charged ahead, pushing through some bushes and stumbling into a small glade. The moon seemed to shine brightly enough in the glade, and only the glade, to bathe the area in silvery light as bright as if the sun were high in the sky. Very unusual pair of trees were bowed toward one another, their branches intertwined around the middle and forming a visible arch. Isabelle was barking agitatedly at the trees. Jen frowned a little and approached slowly. The air in the glade had an almost electric feel to it. She swore she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. “…well what’s this? I don’t see a creepy pale girl here Iz.” She walked a slow circuit around the trees, kicking a stone with a huff. Her irritation with the dog vanished quickly, as the stone passed between the arch formed by the trees, there was a…ripple in the air and it vanished! “…you saw that too right? I’m not crazy?” The awestruck teenager asked of her canine companion, who as usual had little to say save a soft whine and tail wag. Likely demanding reward for her hard work. Jen idly patted her on the head digging out a dog treat from a pocket on her bag and tossing it to the waiting beagle. While Izzy munched her treat, Jen slowly approached the arch, brow furrowed in concentration. “Ok…I must have imagined it right?” She tentatively reached a hand out…ever so slowly. As it passed through the arch she felt the slightest resistance, as if she were pushing her hand through jello…then with a soft PWORP sound…her hand passed through. She could feel it…wiggle her fingers…but from what she could see it just vanished, her arm ended at the wrist. She gave a loud yelp and jumped back, tripping over the dog and falling on her rear. To her relief, her hand was attached and whole. “Isabelle these are NOT magic trees! There’s no such thing!” She scowled, remembering something Tina had told her. She seemed shocked when a younger Jennifer insisted magic was all make believe, and insisted that magic WAS real, and all around you, even if you couldn’t see it. “Jeez was she right? I figured she was just…trying to make a little kid happy.” She slowly stood up brushing off the seat of her pants. Doing another slow circuit of the trees, this time her dog following her happily she frowned. “Well if I put my hand in and pulled it out, there should be no problem…I can just…pop in, see what’s up then pop out!” She looked down at Iz. “…right?” Of course Izzy just wagged her tail and barked playfully, her master didn’t seem distressed, excited really…which made HER excited. “Right!” She took a deep breath…and stepped into the arch. She felt the odd resistance all over, then the loud PWORP sensation….the immediate lack of resistance caused her to pitch forward off balance. In the midst of her fall she noticed two things. The first…was that things seemed…different somehow on the other side. The second, was that the geography wasn’t the same on the side of the arch, and it overlooked a rather steep drop down, with a loud screech she toppled over the incline and started sliding down, face first. It SHOULD be hurting…usually a young woman sliding chest down and headfirst on a bumpy incline was cause for more than a little discomfort, and while not exactly pleasant…it didn’t really hurt. The slide went on for some time, her hair whipping back, the initial fear giving way for exhilaration! She let out an excited whoop as she picked up speed…excitement cut short as she came to the end, and went sailing into the air. Arms and legs suddenly flailing in renewed panic, she braced herself for the (likely fatal) landing she was about to endure. Hitting the ground with a loud WHUMP…she…bounced…once, twice…then a third time. Just…bounced off the hard ground, and THIS hurt, this hurt a lot. But not as much as one would expect a hundred or so foot drop from the air onto the hard ground to hurt. After the third bounce she slid in the dirt for a few moments…coming to a gradual stop. Then she just…layed there breathing heavily for several long moments. Her voiced came out a soft whisper at first. “…I’m alive?” Wiggling fingers, then toes…she slowly got her hands under her and pushed herself into a sitting position. “I’m alive! Haha!” She jumped to her feet and did an excited little dance. “Alive! Alive! I’m-“ Her next exclamation was cut short as she heard a pitiful yowl…and Isabelle came soaring over the rocky slide to land heavily on her head, and down they both went in a heap. It took several moments but she slowly disentangled herself, laughing all the while. “We surviiiiiived! And…holy crap! What was all that about?! That sure as heck wasn’t there a minute ago!” She grinned down at her dog…and tilted her head in confusion. Isabelle looked…odd. She was clearly the same dog, black brown and white, tail wagging slowly as she began to share in her owners jubilation and the shock of the impromptu ride wore off. But still she seemed…off. “Hold on Iz…” Jen dug around in her backpack fishing out the flashlight. It was still a very bright full moon, but she couldn’t see with one hundred percent clarity. Clicking the light on she shined it over her dog and gasped. Izzy looked…weird. She seemed too…smooth? Smooth was a good word. And bright. Very bright. Like…abnormally bright and colorful. Still her normal coloration just infinitely more vibrant. “Isabelle what happened to you!?” Then a thought occurred to her and she shone the light on her other arm. Like Izzy it seemed perfectly smooth, no visible hairs, and her fingers didn’t seem to have nails! She panicked for a moment thinking that they must have gotten torn or broken off in the fall, but it didn’t hurt. Slowly running the fingers of her other hand over them, they even felt smooth. No nail at all. And her skin had the same odd vibrancy Izzy’s fur did. “Alright this is weird Iz…” She winced at a sudden throb in her head. “Must have banged it from the fall…should be glad a headache’s the only problem I came away with.” She frowned looking back up the sheer cliff leading to the steep incline. “…I don’t think we’re going back that way without some climbing gear.” Clicking the flashlight off and stowing it back in her pack she frowned looking about. She was standing in what looked to be the edge of the forest, a wide field of green stretched out before her. “Hrm…we need to find people Iz.” Almost as soon as she speaking her thought aloud she felt a…tugging. It was faint, barely noticeable if it didn’t feel like someone was tugging on her head, she’d ignore it. It felt like something wanted her to look to the right…and gradually she did, then the sensation was straight ahead. “…I walked through a magic portal, survived a plummet off a cliff with nothing more than a headache and now seem to have some sort of compass in my brain.” She glanced down as Isabelle. “Oh and we both went through some sort of air brush station or something…well let’s follow the weird pulling sensation.” She started walking ahead; the faint but insistent tugs would redirect her anytime she veered from her course. She even experimented a bit, so much as turning her head left or right caused it to tug her back in the central direction. “This is super weird Iz.” Her dog just gave a happy yelp and bounded ahead through the grass. She always returned before long but she was clearly happy to be out and off her leash to run. “We should probly keep it down, might be like…wild animals or something around.” The pair continued walking for some time; eventually she could make out lights in the distance. “H…hey! People!” Reinvigorated by the promise of help, she began to jog ahead. Seeing a dirt road leading into what was soon revealing itself to be a town she followed it now. It wasn’t until she was much closer and began to slow her pace she realized the pull on her head had faded. She also realized the place she was approaching looked…weird. The buildings were a bit on the small side. They still stood taller then she, but the doors and windows seemed oddly lower to the ground than she was used to. It must be pretty late because she didn’t see anyone on the streets, but she could hear what sounded like a party going on around the corner. She slowly made her way toward the music and stopped when she saw the source. At the end of the cheery little lane, was a giant…cupcake. There was a door and windows, it was clearly a building. But it was a building made up to look like a gingerbread house. “Holy crap I fell into Wonkaland.” She approached the…big…gingerbread…house thing and leaned down a little to give the door a couple knocks. Isabelle content to trot at her master’s side took the opportunity to flop down and give a long yawn. “I know I know…we’ll get a phone or something then get home ok?” The door swung open letting the jubilant music spill out into the night. “Sorry to interrupt your party but I-“She choked a bit and looked down. Standing a bit shorter than her chest was…a horse? A very…colorful horse. She had a bright orange coat, the most weirdly expressive face one had ever seen for a horse, huge green eyes and…a cowboy hat. Of course the appearance of this little horse was surprising enough, but then it spoke. “….uhhh…Twi? I think we got us a doozy of a problem!” Jen’s eyes just widened further as the little horse suddenly spoke…spoke…with a southern drawl no less? ‘Oh! I get it! I must be dead or unconscious after the fall. This is all in my head…whew.’ There was a bit of a commotion as another horse joined the first. This one’s coat was deep purple, her mane bearing a pink and purple stripe. She seemed as alarmed to see Jen as Jen was to see her. “I…that’s a human! Why is there a human here?! This…this is not good! They’re not supposed to come here…we go there! I…this human has a horn? Why does she have a horn?” Something was familiar about this one’s hair…mane…whatever. Before she could ponder that overmuch something she said seemed more important. “…I…uh…horn?” She managed to squeak out. Slowly feeling at her head with shaking hands…there it was. Right in the middle of her forehead just inside her hairline…a horn. “Why do I have a horn?!” Her sudden distress was causing Isabelle to get riled, the normally docile dog hopping up and growling low at what she assumed where the cause of her masters discomfort…the two little horses. Both of whom took a few steps back. That’s when a third voice chimed in. “Hey girls what’s goin on? The party’s over here!” Up bounded a very pink, very cheery horse like the other two, her hair flouncing merrily, a huge grin on her face. A huge familiar grin. The first two seemed familiar, their voices struck chords in Jen’s heart…but this one…it had to be her. “…Pennie?” She barely managed to get the name out. The Pennie horse’s eyes widened. “Ohmygosh! Jenny-bean! You came to visit us!” Before anyone could react the little pink horse bounded into the air and crashed atop Jen barreling her to the ground in a tight hug. “This is so exciting! I was so sad when we had to go and I missed you soooo much! Every day even! But now you’re here! Ohh! This calls for a party!” She bounded back off the stunned human girl and grinned even wider. “Heyyyy you still have my old shoes! That’s awesome I’m so glad you like em!” This was all getting a bit much for the poor girl. First the magic trees, then the fall, now talking horses…and Pennie is one of them? Not to mention she sprouted a horn! She opened and closed her mouth a few times…before flopping over backwards, dead to the world. Pinkie gave a little eep of alarm and rushed back over to the fallen Jennifer. “Oh no! What happened? Did she fall asleep? I bet walking from her world to ours made her really tired huh?” Twilight frowned, a faint aura shimmering around her horn, then to the unconscious girl lifting her gently into the air. “I think more likely the shock of all this was a bit much for her to take all at once Pinkie. I’m going to get her to the library…the party’s gone on long enough and the Cake’s probably don’t want an unconscious human in their house. Then I need to send a letter to the Princess right away! Humans shouldn’t be able to come to our world…it takes powerful magic to open the gate. Applejack will you let everypony know what’s going on? I want to get her home right away.” The dependable apple farmer gave a quick nod. “Sure thing Twi, I’ll corral her critter too. Keep her from raisin a fuss in town while you get her t’the library.” The party pony’s normally bright mood darkened a bit as she fell into step with Twilight, looking over Jennifer with concern. “She’s gonna be okay right? I mean…she’s not hurt or anything?” Twilight shook her head, quickening her pace a little. She didn’t want anyone seeing the human and causing a panic. “I don’t think so; she was just overwhelmed with everything. I’m more curious about her horn then anything.” Pinkie nudged the door to the library open when they reached their destination. “Yeah, it looks kinda like yours! Or well, a unicorns! I definitely don’t remember her having that when we left; you think it’s some kinda new piercing or something they do over there?” Gently moving Jen to the couch and letting the aura around her dissipate Twilight shook her head. “No she seemed very surprised to see it remember?” She looked upstairs. “Spike! I need to send a letter to the Princess immediately!” While Pinkie fretted over Jen’s prone form, a brief commotion came from upstairs. Slowly the little purple and green dragon made his way downstairs rubbing his eyes. “You know what time it is right? I was…uh…is that a human girl on the couch? I guess sleep time can wait…” He hastily retrieved a quill and paper ready to receive the dictation. Twilight seemed to be pondering how to best phrase her message finally nodding to herself. “Princess Celestia, I am writing to inform you that somehow a human has breached the barrier between their world and Equestria. Our friend Jennifer is here in Ponyville at the library. She seems to have grown a horn similar to a unicorns which is radiating a faint aura of magic. I await your response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” As she gave the usual closing statement, Spike rolled up the scroll and gave a quick puff of green dragon fire over it, sending it off on its way to Celestia’s desk. His task done he slowly approached the unconscious teen. “Huh…so this is a human? She doesn’t have any fur or scales…how’s she stay warm?” Pinkie sat watching her as she slept, looking more and more worried. Neither Spike nor Twilight recalled her seeming so…un-Pinkie Pielike since the Discord incident. “They wear clothes to keep warm Spike, not just to look nice like anypony else would.” Twilight gave Pinkie a reassuring smile. “She’s just fine Pinkie, she’s just asleep. If she were in trouble she wouldn’t be breathing as deeply as she is now.” As if on cue Jen’s eyes fluttered open. Spike scurried back behind Twilight and Pinkie sat up eagerly. “Oh thank goodness! I was all hiya and you were all “eeek I’m gonna faint!” and I was soooo worried but now you’re awake and ok!” Blinking slowly and staring at the excited pink pony, Jen pulled herself into a sitting position…looking slowly from Pinkie, to Twilight…and glancing Spike’s way. “…right so…I went through these…magic trees. Fell off a cliff. Grew a horn at some point…and Pennie’s a little horse. And…you must be Tina…” Twilight cleared her throat gently and tried to give Jen a warm smile. “Well…we’re ponies first of all. And our real names are Pinkie Pie…” She nodded Pinkie’s way. “And Twilight Sparkle.” She nudged the little dragon into view. “And this is my assistant, Spike.” Spike gave her a nervous smile. “Uh…hey there, heard a lot about you from Pinkie and everyone.” The beleagured teen tried to return the smile but just managed more of a twitch. “Uh…thanks…a pleasure…” She looked from Tina…Twilight Sparkle, to Pinkie Pie slowly. Glancing from one to the other. “So…you’re ponies.” More of a statement then a question, but both nodded in the affirmative. She took a deep breath before continuing on. “Is this why you left? To come back to…ponyland?” Pinkie opened her mouth to answer but Twilight stepped in first. “Equestria…and yes. We were on an educational and explorational mission from our Princesses to learn about your world. The magic that allowed us to have human bodies can only last a year before it became permanent.” Jen seemed to be processing this new information, looking down at her lap, before slowly looking back up at Pinkie now. “Why didn’t you tell me? You just…abandoned me out of the blue Pennie! I kept going back to our spot for weeks before I gave up!” Tears were forming in her eyes and starting to run down her cheeks unchecked. Pinkie looked alarmed at the sudden turn in Jen’s mood…this wasn’t at all the happy reunion she was hoping for. “It wasn’t up to me Jenny-bean! We were absolutely forbidden from telling anyone about Equestria or who we really were no matter how much I wanted to! And between you and me the Princess can go a little overboard when it comes to punishment…but that’s just my opinion…so…so I’m really really really sorry! I don’t think there are enough reallies to tell you how sorry I am!” Now Pinkie was starting to cry. Spike shuffled from foot to foot looking worried at Pinkie’s uncharacteristic attitude before Twilight finally cleared her throat. “She’s right Jennifer, if we could have told you we absolutely would have. You were a good friend and it hurt everypony a lot to leave you behind, especially with so little explanation. Poor Pinkie Pie was sad and mopey for weeks! She’d barely leave her room at Sugarcube Corner.” Jen sniffed a bit looking down at Pinkie. “…my folks couldn’t get me to go to school for a week after you left…” She threw her arms around Pinkie, who responded by throwing her forelegs around her human friend, and both shared a good cry together. Spike gave Twilight a little tug and jerked his head toward the door, both dragon and unicorn leaving quietly to give the reunited friends some privacy. Eventually the tears slowed and stopped, leaving a pair of red eyed girls sitting on the floor in one anothers arms (slash forelegs). Gradually the embrace ended and they sat looking at one another. Pinkie was the first to smile of course, but Jen found her mood brightening just a bit…like it always did around Pennie. Both girls soon dried their eyes and each took a deep breath. Pinkie spoke first. “Soooo…how in the world did you get to Equestria? Princess Celestia said it was impossible!” Jen was still on the floor, her back braced against the couch behind her. She gave a half shrug. “Well…this new girl came to school and mentioned she heard of me through you…er…through Pennie. Who is still you I guess…I sorta made a big scene when she brought up your name.” Pinkie winced slightly at that and Jen gave a helpless shrug. “I hadn’t thought about you in a while…I figured you were gone forever so…” She looked down at her shoes a moments before looking back up. “So I ran to our spot in the woods and she found me. She gave me this hanky to dry my eyes…I kinda uh, shoved her and she ran off and disappeared in the woods. I was a bit worried about her being lost and really curious how she disappeared and knew you. I went home and got my dog Isabelle…I usually call her Izzy…and she followed Lucy’s scent to this…weird portal in the woods. I went through it and followed my ah…” At this point she points faintly to her horn peeking through her hair. “My horn and it led me her.” As she finished her story she gently prodded the horn protruding from her head, still keeping her eyes on Pinkie, but giving experiment tugs or prods to the new appendage. Pinkie for her part just nodded along, giving the occasional gasp or oh to go along with the story. “Well…now that you’re here…there’s something really important we gotta do!” She paused waiting expectantly. Jen blinked and tilted her head. “What’s that?” “Haaaaaave a party!”