Morning came far more quickly than Isaac could have expected... even despite the constant stream of questions from the curious pony. As sunlight began to fill the room, he began to stir. He had dreamed a bizarre dream of being thrust without warning into the world of ponies. Still thinking of this dream, he slowly opened his eyes to begin his morning ritual. The scene that greeted him momentarily startled him - he rapidly remembered that he was indeed in Equestria, and much of his dream simply replayed events that had already happened. Isaac had survived his first night in Equestria. So much for this whole event being a dream, he thought. Glancing around the room, he saw a disheveled stack of books filling the center of the library. Behind the stack lay a purple unicorn, sleeping soundly. He smiled. "Looks like she didn't pull an all-nighter after all."
Isaac took this as his opportunity to carefully explore the innards of the massive tree that served as the Ponyville Library. Last night's events had left him with no time to actually take in his surroundings. He noticed that the whole thing was, for the most part, one very large and expansive room, with alcoves and small closets scattered throughout. It was a rather open structure with sleeping and storage space on the second level, accessed by a staircase and a ladder. Behind the staircase lay the kitchen, and, in a revelation he had previously thought little of, a small bathroom. "Sanitary little critters." He wandered slowly towards the main door, the door that served as the entrance to the library. I could sneak out and look around... just for a few seconds... before any others in town are stirring, he mused. There's no harm in that I suppose. But just as he reached for the handle, he heard a surprised shout from behind him.
"AAGH! There's a monster in here!" He turned to see a very shocked baby dragon. "Who are you and what have you done with Twilight?!" It was Spike, now awoken after sleeping through the previous night's events. And of all the times for Twilight to be hidden amidst a stack of books!
"Hey, um, Spike! Don't be afraid! I don't wanna hurt anyone, I-"
He was cut off by a loud yawn. Both quickly diverted their attention to the pile of books. As if on cue, a drowsy pony stood up from amidst the fortess of knowledge, awoken by the confrontation.
"Uggh... morning already..."
Isaac quickly pointed to Twilight, and said "See? She's right there. Fell asleep while studying, looks like."
But Spike was still startled by the whole encounter, and quickly hid beside Twilight. "Twilight! Thank goodness you're safe. There's a weird creature in the library!"
"Oh, Spike. That's not a weird creature, that's our guest!"
Spike stared at Isaac, looking him up and down, silently scanning the human. The library was in complete silence, punctuated only by birds chirping outside. Spike was the first to break the silence. "... and he's a what, now?"
Twilight smiled and replied "A human. You know, those two-legged, nearly hairless creatures from that book about ancient Equestrian history that I gave you a few months ago?"
He stared at Twilight, then idly traced the floor beneath with his foot.
"... you didn't read it, did you?"
"I... uh... didn't even look at the cover."
Isaac smirked at the exchange, before speaking up. "Um... so, uh, yeah. Sorry for startling you. I guess I do kinda look weird. Let's start over." Walking over to the two, he extended a hand towards the dragon, and continued "I'm Isaac. Nice to meet you."
With hesitation, Spike shook his hand. "I'm Spike. But I guess you already knew that."
For about half an hour, Isaac watched Twilight go through her morning routine. Ever the organized pony, she had to make sure every little thing was in its place as she looked through her schedule for the day. Spike helped check and double check the items on the list as the tasks were completed, albeit slightly begrudgingly. The bed had to be made, the book piles organized and re-shelved, and breakfast had to be planned. Indeed, the mess in the main room was so significant that they would have to pick up the books before starting breakfast. Isaac half-heartedly volunteered to help, but Twilight was too deep in concentration to answer as she effortlessly levitated each book into its proper place. Spike, however, seemed more than willing to relinquish his job for the day. As Twilight made sure her quill drawer was properly stocked, she gasped and turned to Isaac. "I'm so sorry, I almost forgot to ask what you want to eat! It's only fair to invite you to join us for breakfast."
"Um... well, I usually eat a couple of scrambled eggs for breakfast back home."
Twilight thought for a moment before replying "Um... sorry, all out of eggs. I was going to have a daisy sandwich, I'll make you one if you like."
"Well humans don't usually eat daisies... I'll just..."
"Oh! You don't know what you're missing!"
"No, that's fine... I'll have some bread..."
"Are you sure? Because they're really good!"
"Yes, I am quite sure."
And so, Isaac's first 'proper' meal in Equestria consisted of little more than a few slices of plain bread. It was a bit bland, but it would certainly suffice.
"You must be hungry, though. You really need to eat more than that, especially since you're... well, pretty big. I read last night that..."
"Oh no, that's fine. I am still quite full from my meal last night."
"Wait, what did you eat last night?"
"I found these really tasty berries in the forest before I bumped into you, and I-"
"Hold in a second. Berries in the Everfree Forest?"
"...yes? Is that bad?"
"What did they look like?"
"Well they were kinda purple and blue, and they grew on a little bush..."
Twilight eyed him for a few moments and slowly said, "... so you ate a whole lot of trueberries."
"Whatberries?"
An amused grin began to grow on Twilight's face. "Trueberries. Once they take effect, you'll be forced to tell the truth in whatever question is asked until they wear off."
Isaac's countenance fell. This might complicate things quite a bit.
"Everypony knows you shouldn't eat anything out of the Everfree Forest without knowing what it is."
Isaac grimaced. "Ugg... that's not good."
Twilight giggled and repiled "Why? Afraid somepony's going to ask you some personal questions? Like how you seem to know so much about Equestria despite never having been here?"
"Now don't you dare start that! I'll tell when I am good and ready!"
"Just teasing you. Don't worry, I'll take pity on you until it wears off."
Isaac let out a sigh of relief. The whole 'you're supposed to be just a cartoon character' speech could be further postponed. Hopefully.
Twilight looked at the clock hanging on the wall. Levitating the schedule book over to near the table, she said "I'm supposed to have Cheerilee pick up some books I ordered for her in about half an hour. It's 9:45 now. So you'll have to go somewhere and hide until she leaves."
"Not ready for any other ponies to see me, huh?"
"No, it's not that... well, actually, yes. You just got here, and there are so many things that can go wrong." Twilight got up and began to clear the table, as per her schedule for the moment.
Isaac stood up and walked back into the main room in the hollow tree, the library itself. Everything was in its place, freshly cleaned and organized. He decided to browse some titles on the shelves until it was time to hide. A Brief History of Fillyosophy, Sewing for Silly-fillies, Astronomy for Equestrian Observers... indeed, it seemed as if nearly every subject was covered. How To Make Friends and Influence Ponies, Daffodil Soup for the Soul, Flora of Ponyville... so many books to choose from. Cloudsdale Weather Bureau Climate Reports, Pony Prophecies and Predictions...
Suddenly, his browsing was cut short by a hushed scream of "Hide!" He glanced out one of the windows, and saw that an orange pony wearing a Stetson was heading for the library door. He quickly sprinted to an alcove and covered himself in the sheet he had slept under. No sooner had he done this than the sound of a hoof knocking at the library door resonated through the room. Twilight looked his way, ascertained that he was hidden well enough, and nervously headed for the door. She opened it after quickly making a last look in Isaac's direction.
"Hey, Applejack! Didn't expect to see you here so early in the morning! I mean, not that I don't like you visiting, or anything... I mean, uh, hey AJ, what do you need?" A bead of sweat trickled down Twilight's brow.
Applejack eyed her suspiciously before replying, "Howdy Twi. Ah'm just here to return this here book ah borrowed." Her eyes drifted towards the inside of the library. "You got company or somethin'?"
"No, not at all!" Twilight quickly countered, stepping in front of the orange pony.
At this, Isaac felt a very odd sensation. As if by magic, he blurted out "YES." Not loudly, but enough to be heard. Shit, he thought, great time for those to take effect!
Twilight's eyes grew wide as AJ's head snapped to the direction of the sound. "Hey! Actually, I, uh, wanted to show you something out here! Lemme show you!" And Twilight ushered a confused Applejack out the library door.
"Now hold on there, ahm the Element of Honesty, I know yet tryin'-"
"HEY look it's such a lovely day out! Let's not worry about returning that book right now, don't worry about it! Also we're out of eggs so I was wondering if you could-"
As the door slammed shut, the two left the building swiftly. Isaac was safe for a few moments more. A couple minutes of silence followed, during which he remained perfectly still, half expecting Applejack to barge through the door at any moment. But no, nothing. He then used this opportunity to carefully peek out from behind the sheet to look around, checking to see if anypony else was approaching. He glanced at the clock. It was 10:13... almost time for Cheerilee to drop by. And as Spike walked past with an armload of magazines, he heard a knock on the door.
"Coming!" the dragon said, setting down the load and heading for the door.
"No! No! Don't open it!" Isaac whispered, but alas, he was too quiet. He pulled the sheet over him and stood as still as he could.
"Hi, Cheerilee!"
"Hey Spike! Is Twilight here?"
"Nah, she went out for something. But I've got your books right over here."
He heard the two walking across the library. He tried to ascertain exactly where they were headed, being unable to see from under his disguise. However, after a quick listen, it seemed as though the two were coming straight for him! Or, rather, the table that happened to be located right in front of the alcove he was hidden in. He held his breath as the two stopped mere feet from him. He heard their banter as Spike placed the books in the basket on Cheerilee's back. He hoped desperately that she wouldn't notice him. And of course, he hoped even more that Spike was aware that he was supposed to stay hidden! Cheerilee seemed happy to stay and chat with Spike for a few minutes, so he hoped Spike wouldn't say anything to alert her to his presence. The topics seemed to stay safe until he heard the conversation rapidly turn in a direction he wished it hadn't.
"Yeah, I got a scare this morning when I woke up and there was this huge mess in the room and I couldn't find... um..."
"A scare? Because the room was a mess?"
Spike seemed to realise his mistake and tried to shift away from further questioning. "... ummm... yeah, because the room was a mess!"
"NO."
Isaac didn't even try to stop it - he knew he couldn't resist correcting Spike. The trueberries' effects were at their full potency. Though he was still blind under the sheet, he could feel two pairs of eyes focusing on him as the conversation stopped cold. But what happened immediately thereafter surprised him.
"Oh! I've been practicing my ventrilo...ventrilla... throwing my voice! Like it?"
"IS... notmph"
Isaac half-stifled his reaction to the lie and listened intently for Cheerilee to speak. He sensed the heavy tension in the air. Cheerilee was a school teacher - she knew a lie when she heard one, and this wasn't going to be easy to get out of without revealing himself.
"Um... Spike? What's that under the sheet?"
Just then, as if by a miracle, the door of the library flew open. Twilight, a bit frazzled from trying to keep AJ from asking too many questions, plodded into the room. She gasped when she saw Cheerilee and Spike so close to the alcove. "Cheerilee!" she called out, teleporting between the two and Isaac.
"I totally forgot about the books! I was talking to Applejack and I didn't realise it was already this late and I... um..." Twilight tried to quickly invent a diversion, carefully considering the effects of the berries on Isaac. "... I have an... um... a secret over here, and I really don't want to spoil the surprise so soon! Let's go over there and finish our business!"
It wasn't a lie, it didn't set off the trueberries, and best of all, it didn't reveal Isaac's presence. He breathed a very quiet sigh of relief as the two walked towards the kitchen.
"So been up to anything recently? Anything going on at school? Well besides, you know, school, which is normal - for a school of course! That's not unusual! What I mean to ask is..."
Twilight's awkward attempts to break the tension with conversation didn't appear to be going so well, and Isaac could still hear them, so he clamped his hands over his ears to block it out. Unbeknownst to him, it also had the effect of blocking the trueberries - if he couldn't hear a question, the berries in his system couldn't react. He was safe. At least for now. Assuming, of course, Cheerilee didn't come sprinting over and yank the sheet off. But Cheerilee wasn't the kind of pony to do such a thing - she trusted Twilight's explanation, and that was that. Even through his blocked ears, he could detect the front door closing.
"That was a close one..."
Isaac carefully uncovered his ears as a magical aura pulled the blanket off him. Twilight stood in the center of the room, clearly frazzled by the back-to-back close calls.
"I think it would be best if you went upstairs. You know, so nopony can see you from down here."
Isaac groaned. "Aw, fine." Isaac made his way to the stairs carved into the wood and began his ascent.
"But don't hit your head on the-" THUMP! "...low ceiling."
This was going to be a long day.