//------------------------------// // 5 - Welcome to Smashville! pt.1 // Story: Living where the crossing life leads // by Warioexpert //------------------------------// “Mmmm... Spike... Stop throwing pies at me... Zzzz...”, Twilight mumbled in her sleep as she tossed and turned. She eventually rolled out of the bed due to the animated movements and hit the hardwood floor with a thud. It took her a few seconds to realize the pain of the fall before groggily opening her eyes. “Oww... where am I?”, she said with a yawn. Pulling off the sheets that covered her face, Twilight gave a depressed sigh. “Now I remember...”, she said rubbing her tired eyes. Now that she was conscious, the silly dream only reminded her that getting home was still impossible at this time. She sighed as she used the bed for leverage to get onto her still unfamiliar two feet. Alright, I guess I should start the day. As the thought drifted through her weary mind, the clock next to the bed made her eyes bulge in shock. “T-Ten!? Its ten in the morning!? By Celestia how could I oversleep!” she shouted due to the shocking revelation. Her mind turned to automatic as she hurried towards the stair that led to her room. Forgetting how clumsy her bipedal form was, she quickly tripped and started to fall down the stairs. “Ow-Oh-Eh-Oh-Ow-D’oh!” she finally stopped as she landed face first on the lower floor. The act reminded her of a couple negative experiences she'd had in the Crystal Castle. “Stupid stairs", she groaned as she got to her feet. “Zzzz....”, Jack snorted as he laid in his golden bed. His sheets were sprawled all over the place and a bit of drool dripped out of his content smile. His sleep was shortly interrupted by the sound of a unicorn tumbling comically down a flight of stairs. “Mmmm...”, Jack murmured like a giant woken from his slumber. He rose from his bed, giving a tired groan as he stretched out his arms and legs in bodybuilder poses before walking to the nearest window. Opening the window, a few clouds greeted him as they floated in the blue sky. Scratching an itch on his butt, Jack sniffed the air for any relative humidity. “Hmm... no rain today... good...”, he said to himself as he heard the upstairs shower turn on. “Might as well make some breakfast... I wonder if she likes bacon”, he mumbled to himself as he exited the temporary bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he paused to twist the sign on the door around. Giving a satisfied nod, Jack headed up the stairs to the kitchen. The sign, embossed with the words ‘Man Cave’, tapped softly against the door. “Okay I finished my shower”, Twilight announced with a deep in thought expression. Mentally she checked the final thing off her imaginary, morning routine list. Rushing out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head, a delightful aroma pulled her from her thoughts. Investigating the aroma she stopped cold as she found the source to be coming from something Jack was cooking. Thinking he was mad by the way he focused so intently on his task, she quietly tip-toed into the room and sat at the table. “Um...Jack...I'd like to apologize for oversleeping on the first day. I’m so sorry and it'll never happ-" Twilight nearly bit her tongue mid sentence in surprise, as Jack turned with a plate of brown strips held proudly in a victory pose. "Success!", Jack shouted excitedly. "The most perfect plate of bacon and it's all mine. MWAHAhaha...*" Jack's expression froze as he seemed to finally notice her. Twilight's ear perked up thinking she heard a small snap as he looked at her “Gah!”, he yelled in surprise as he covered his eyes with his free hand. “Jack! Are you alright!?” Twilight exclaimed as she rushed to his side. “Twilight! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!” Jack shouted while avoiding the worrying mare. “Y-You're not angry I overslept?” Twilight asked. “What? No! Just get some clothes on for pete's sake!”, Jack snapped at her. “What's so important I need to put on clothes?” she replied with a confused tilt of her head, unaware of how red Jack’s face had become. Not getting a response she gave a huff and left to put on some clothes. She rolled her eyes as she went upstairs “What is with the beings here and their need to wear clothes?” she grumbled before remembering how Rarity seemed to have the same desire. Hearing Twilight walk up the stairs, he opened his eyes cautiously.“Fudge... guess that's going to be another problem”, he said to himself as he placed the plate filled with bacon on the set table. After a few minutes Twilight walked back down wearing a purple dress and her blue bow “Is this better?”, she asked before adding, "Your not going to freak out again...right?" If you only knew..., the thought made Jack’s eye twitch as he pointed out her seat with a forced smile. Sitting down, he watched her tentatively sit and stare at the spread he'd cooked up. There was a cast iron skillet filled with eggs that smelled like olive oil. Near the far end of the table was a platter holding toast with various vegetables and cheeses used for sandwich making. Finally as a centerpiece there was a gold plate stacked high with bacon with a carton of orange juice and a jug of milk placed on each side. “Better grab something before its all gone”, Jack said before taking a large bite out of a triple decker sandwich he'd created. “Do you eat like this every morning?” Twilight questioned with an interested look on her face as she pulled out her notepad and ‘quill’ as she knew it. Jack took his time to swallow what he had in his mouth before talking. “Pretty much”, he answered casually. “Hmm... You must have a pretty big appetite then.” Twilight said while jotting down notes. “What's this?”, she said picking up a strip of bacon. “It smells really good!”, she said taking a whiff out of it. Jack suddenly gave her a startled look. “That's bacon...”, he answered. “Bacon? Never heard of it before”, Twilight said putting down the strip on her plate before writing more notes. “It sure is greasy though”, she commented. “You’ve never heard...of bacon!?”, Jack’s face went from startled to horrified. “That's outrageous!”, Jack exclaimed. Twilight then looked at Jack inquisitively. “And how is that outrageous?”, she asked. Picking up the strip again and nibbled on a crunchy end. “Ugh!”, she spit out the piece in disgust before reaching for a glass of orange juice and downing it. “It tastes like meat!”, she exclaimed. “Of course it's meat! It's the best kind of meat there is!” Jack said as he suddenly stood up on his chair and put a foot on the table. “Bacon... is one of the world's culinary wonders! A true gift from the gods!” he proclaimed holding up a strip of bacon as if it were a mighty sword. “O-Kay?” Twilight said awkwardly “I’m a herbivore though, I don't eat meat.” “Don't eat meat?”, Jack said sitting back down in his seat. “Okay... so there’s no bacon where you come from...do you have videogames?”, Jack asked. “...Video-games?”, she responded with a tilt of her head. “Never heard of such a thing. We have board and outdoor games in my world, but I tend to read when I'm bored.” Jack paused for a moment as her answers sunk-in. What kind of sick, twisted dimension is this mare from?, he thought before shaking his head to avoid imagining such a place. “Well, never mind then... eat up you have a lot of work to do today.” Jack said, pushing the plate of sandwich vegetables towards her. “About that, what kind of work do you have in mind for me?”, she asked. "Without my magic and being in this new body, some physical tasks will probably be impossible." she added before Jack reached into his pocket. “Here”, Jack said pulling out a small and meticulously folded piece of paper, “This is what you’ll be doing for the day” “Alright, let me see”, Twilight said while unfolding the paper. “Make friends with everyone in town”, she read aloud. She stared at the paper for a few seconds before giving Jack a confused look. "Why do I need to do that?", she asked as she had a case of deja vu. Jack cracked a smile between chews when she asked. “Well you want to learn more about other dimensions, didn't you?”, he said taking the last strip of bacon off the plate. “More friends you meet, the easier it's going to be for you to learn.” Twilight looked back at the piece of paper while nodding her head in understanding. “Seems simple enough, there's only a few names on this list... that's strange, one of the names is all scratched out?” “Scratched out name?!”, Jack said evenly while discreetly tugging on his shirt collar. “It's just a mistake I made and couldn't erase it.” “Alright”, Twilight said as he gave out a slight sigh of relief. “So who am I catching dinner for...”, she asked before pointing to the next task. “...and what is this dribbled next to it? A fishing rod?” “That's right, some of the tasks I’ll give you require certain tools.” Jack said reaching into his pockets. “So you want me to go fishing?”, she deadpanned. “I could be doing something a lot more productive with my time like organizing-”, she started to rant before Jack held up three fingers. “You know that’s getting old, right?”, she said with a scowl. “Don't care~”, Jack chimed-in with a smirk. “I’ll do it as many times as necessary”, he said while getting out of his seat. “Now hop to it!” he ordered while pointing at the door with his thumb. Twilight got up and headed to the door. The way Jack ordered her didn't felt a little mean but she really wanted to learn more about the strange world. Stepped out the door she took a moment to look at the cloudy sky. “I hope it doesn't rain today... wait a minute”, she said looking back at Jack. “I haven't even finished my breakfast yet!”, she exclaimed while crossing her arms.. “It's not going to rain today...”, Jack said cryptically before reaching into his pocket. “...You can pick up some brunch at the restaurant in town with this.” he then placed a small pouch in her hands that jingled slightly. “Consider that your allowance for the day.” “Oh, thanks!” Twilight said with a smile. “And here are the tools you'll possibly need.” Jack said before placing a few heavy tools from his pocket, atop the pouch. “Woah!”, Twilight exclaimed while teetering left and right under the weight. “Those are just the basic tools so don't beat them up too quickly", he explained while pointing from the tools to her pocket. "Remember now, make friends, relax and just have fun.” he said before slamming the door shut. “Hmph...”, she grunted as she managed to place the tools on the ground safely. “Alright lets see... shovel, fishing rod and butterfly net?" After listing each tool off, she placed it to her pocket and watched them disappear with a look of enjoyment. The final thing she placed in her pocket was the pouch of bells before standing. The lack of weight still surprised her as she thought about how to better study the pocket. “Oh well... guess I'll figure that out another time." she said as she remembered the list. she took in a deep breath as she looked at the list of names. “Alright Twilight, it's just another town... it's nothing like Ponyville but it's a town nonetheless. You can do this.” she said to motivate herself as she jogged towards the town. “This must be the first house, well here we go...”, Twilight gulped as she knocked on the door. Her mood quickly brightened as a familiar gator opened the door. “Hey Twilight!”, Alfonso said with a smile. “What brings you to Smashville?... Jack didn't kick you out did he!”, Alfonso exclaimed rather loudly. "Alfonso...”, Twilight managed to say before the gator started to rant. "That Jack can be so mean sometimes. Did you know he hits me all the time... He didn't hit you did he! The nerve of that guy, beating up such a young lady. I should've let you stay here while I stayed with him. Gah, why didn't I think of that before?" By now he'd started to check Twilight's arms for signs of abuse. "No I'm fine, when I overslept Jack...", Twilight tried to get a word in edgewise but her traitorous stomach decided to rumble in hunger. It seemed to only made the gator fuss over her even more. "He didn't feed you for oversleeping, that's inhumane. Let me whip something up for you right now, won't even take two minutes. How does bacon and eg... What am I saying, you're a herbivore like Tortimer. Let me grab you some fresh fruit and heat up a plate of cheesy lasagna. You eat cheese rig-" Alfonso froze up as Twilight giggled. Taking a few minutes to stifle her giggling, Twilight finally cleared her throat before explaining the mornings events. "... So you see Alfonso, meeting everypo... everybody in Smashville is the first job Jack gave me." She then pulled the small list from her pocket and checked off Alfonso's name. "He also gave me an allowance for some brunch, but I'd love an apple if you have one." she said with a sheepish smile. Alfonso seemed to unfreeze as he held his door open for her. “That's pretty easy for a first job. Come in, I'll get you an apple to snack on and the gift I was hoping to give you." “Oh, well what is it?” the mention of a gift had piqued her interest as she thought of what otherworldly thing it could be. He first placed a bright red apple in her hand before he rooted through his pocket When Alfonso presented a green shirt with a, 'L', embroidered in it, she quickly hide her disappointment. "Ssoo... What do you think? It was a couple's collector item that I bought with my favorite shirt." he said as he tapped on his red shirt proudly. He stopped as he quickly revised his statement. "Not that we're a couple, I just can't wear the female sized one in public. I mean-"Twilight cut him off this time by giving the gator a friendly hug. "Thank you for the wonderful gift Alfonso." Twilight said, accepting the gift as the gator stood frozen with a happy grin on his face. Carefully folding the shirt, she placed it in her pocket before waving farewell. “I need to get going now, I have to meet the other villagers” she called over her shoulder as she walked through the door with the red apple in her hand. “Bye Twilight!” Alfonso called through the open door as he started to close it. Leaning against the doorframe, Alfonso couldn't keep the silly grin off his face. I can't wait to see her wear it, he thought with a sigh. “Next is Seth... hmm... Why does that sound familiar?” she said to herself as she walked up to a large house. At first glance the house seemed almost as big as Jack’s. “Hello?”, Twilight called out as she knocked on the door. Her eyes widened as she saw who answered the door. “Why if it isn't the little lady from the festival!” Seth gave a toothy grin as he tipped the dark brown cowboy hat on his head. His outfit consisted of a black leather vest over an olive green turtleneck, with a silver watch chain leading to a pocket on the vest. “Y-You're Seth!?” Twilight squeaked in surprise, which made Seth chuckle. “That's my name, Ms.Twilight. Sorry I wasn’t able to Introduce myself properly during the Chestnut festival.” Seth said, taking off his hat for a courteous bow “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance once again. Now what can I do for such a lovely filly?" he gave a soft chuckle as Twilight hide behind her list of jobs, red blooming in her cheeks. Twilight looked at her list as she felt her face heat up. “Well,it's just that Jack wanted me to visit everyone in town and meet them in person.” she said while trying to act casual. “Sooo... I think I best be on to the next house." "Getting such a pretty young thang like you working. It just doesn't sit right with me. How about you cross those names out and you hang with me for awhile." he suggested with a shrug. "I'm sure he would understand if you didn't have time to meet the rest of the townsfolk. Twilight started to debate about if it was a good idea before hearing Seth's barking laugh. "I'm just teasing you, my dear. Jack has a tendency to take work too seriously sometimes... thinking about it now, I may have something you may like." Seth said before he went inside and opened a chest he had in his living room “Ah! here it is”, the wolf smiled as he walked back to Twilight with a leaf in his hand. “A little housewarming gift from me to you”, he said while gently closing Twilight's fingers over the gift. Twilight blinked as she held onto the leaf. “Um... Thank you Seth, you're very kind” she said with sweet smile. “It's what I do. Now you best be running off to the next task and keep in touch." he said while watching Twilight jog away. “Okay, that didn't go so bad”, Twilight said crossing Seth off the list. “Two down, a few more to- Omf!” she let out as she bumped into something soft. “H-Huh?”, Twilight then looked up to see a large and furry villager looming over her. Scratching his belly, he swiveled his head to look for who bumped into him. Twilight stood there with a pale look on her face as she looked up at the villager's face. “Mmmm? What are you staring at?” the bear asked lazily scratching his yellow t-shirt. “N-Nothing!”, she said while taking a step back. She was a bit fearful standing before an animal that could and would make her his meal. “Its just that you're so... big?”, she blurted out before covering her mouth. The bear blinked before smiling widely. “Why thank you, I work really hard to keep this figure...”, he said turning towards her. “...What's your name?”, he asked. Twilight gave a big sigh, relieved that she did not upset him with her poor choice of words. “Twilight sir!”, she answered with a slight nod of her head. “Oh, You don't need to call me sir, I’m still young for a bear my size. You can call me Teddy”, he said scratching his cheek. Twilight could not help but giggle at the ironic name. “You’re not from around here are you? Come to think of it, I recall seeing you once at the Chestnut festival.” Teddy said in a slow voice. “Well I came here yesterday... and since I had no place to stay Jack decided to take me in. In exchange I'm going through the old Nook treatment as he likes to call it.” Twilight said while looking for Teddy’s name on her list. Teddy suddenly gave a chuckle after hearing the explanation. “Is that so? I always knew Jack would help anyone in need, but this is the first time seeing it.” he commented while crossing his arms. “Okay... that's three people... only seven to go...”, she whispered to herself before sighing. “Then I have to catch some fish for Jack’s Dinner...” Teddy rubbed his chin as he overheard her quiet debate. “Hmmm... perhaps you could ask Octavian for some help with that. I’m sure Jack wouldn't mind that.” “Octavia...”, Twilight said as she tilted her head to look up at the bear. “... I don't see music helping with fishing. “No, Octavian”, Teddy licked his lips slightly as a reminiscent look crossed his face. “He’s the best at catching fish here, with Jack as the close second. He’ll be able to catch whatever kind of fish you'd like.” Twilight's ears perked up as she recognized the difference in names “That’s definitely the kind of pony-I mean person I need”, she quickly corrected. “Where can I find him?”, she asked before Teddy pointed towards the river. “He lives just beside the town lake. Just walk along the river and you’ll find his house.” Teddy then looked at Twilight as he reached into his pocket. “Let me give you a little welcoming gift”, the bear said before pulling out a strange looking lamp. “I’m not really sure what this is... but I think it would look nice for decoration.” Twilight turned the gift over in her hands with a quizzical expression. “Where did you find something like this?”, she finally asked. “Well, I picked it off the ground a few hours ago. I gave it a good clean in the river, just so you know.” Teddy said while scratching the back of his head. “Thank you then...”, Twilight smiled before running off to the next location. “... and thanks for the information!” Twilight hummed cheerfully as she walked by the river. Its fresh water ran clear and seemed to teem with life. “I wonder what this Octavian guy is like?”, she said writing down some notes about her surroundings. “I think I’m really getting the hang of Human vocabulary. Now if only I could understand why Jack says 'fudge' all the time...”, she pondered over the question before she reached the lake. “Ah! The lake, now all I have to find is... there!” Twilight exclaimed as she spotted a house. As she ran towards it, she quickly discovered that the house itself looked like a giant jar. “What an odd design”, she said, baffled by the houses weird shape. Composing herself, Twilight walked up to the odd house and knocked on the door. After a few seconds of silence, she called out a greeting, “Hello, anyone home?” she stood there a little longer before turning from the doorway. “Huh,no response... Maybe I should check back later after getting something to eat.” Twilight said as she began to walk away. “Ohhh... my stomach”, Twilight said gripping her empty stomach. The apple had helped but all that running around seemed to burn more calories then expected. “Where did Jack say that restaurant was?” she said impatiently while looking at her map. “The Roost huh? Sounds like someplace Rainbow would visit.” Using her finger, Twilight quickly found the desired location on her map. “Okay, this should be it”, she said looking up from her map. Before her stood a white stone building with a carved owl adorning the entrance. As Twilight walked inside she found herself in a lobby with checkered floors and stained glass windows. Sitting at the very end of the room was an antique clock and standing in front was a rather sophisticated looking owl. Twilight walked up to the owl as she curiously looked around. “Um, excuse me? What is this place?”, Twilight asked but received no response. “Hello?”, Twilight said while waving an arm in front of his face. “Zzzz....”, Blathers snored in response. “H-Huh? Oh! he’s an owl...”, she giggled to herself. “...don't want to interrupt his sleep” Twilight said as she slipped past him into a random room.“What could this room be?”, she wondered aloud before turning her head to see a massive reptile skeleton grinning at her. “EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”, Twilight's scream resonated through the room into the lobby. “D-Dragon!”,Twilight curled up in fear with her hands over her head. Expecting the roar of the mighty beast, she was surprised when she heard a small yawn. Peeking out from between her arms, as she heard some footsteps draw near, to see the same owl from the lobby standing fearlessly before the imposing remains. “Tyrannosaurus Rex...”, he said with his wings behind his back. “Also known as the King of the Cretaceous period which was approximately three point eight million years ago.” Looking down at Twilight with a smile, he offered her a wing. “Blathers, pleased to make your acquaintance miss...” "...Twilight", she responded while looking up at the T-Rex fossils. As she took Blathers’s wing to get up she looked around in amazement. All around her were other giant fossils, each positioned in various poses under bright spotlights. “Wow!” she exclaimed as she walked to each one, her face beaming with joy. “I’ve never seen anything like this before!” she said breathlessly before looking at Blathers. Blathers proudly held his wings behind his back. “Of course, miss Twilight! A fine collection of fossils , and not to toot my own beak, but the best that the Smashville museum has had in years.” “This is the museum!?”, Twilight’s eyes went wide with excitement. “I’ve wanted to visit this place ever since I heard of it, you must give me a tour!” Twilight said grabbing Blathers wing with pleading eyes. Blathers gave a big smile as she held his wing. “Ah! A ripe mind in search of knowledge. Come then miss Twilight, allow me to give you a tour!” he said enthusiastically, leading Twilight around the prehistoric exhibits. “So as you can see, each of these species of dinosaurs died thousands upon millions of years ago. We learned this through a method called, carbon dating. We take a small sample from the bones and measure the amount of carbon to determine when the creature died.” “Astounding...”, Twilight remarked, having taken notes since the beginning of the tour. “...and are there any dragon fossils here?”, she asked. Blathers gave a chuckle “Sadly no, miss Twilight... as far as I know dragons are mythological creatures prominent in european and asian culture. There have been no scientific proof of one in existence” Twilights ears lowered from hearing this. “Oh right, how silly of me...”, she said with a dejected sigh. so I was right, dragons don't exist here. she thought with a mixture of relief and sadness. “So, shall we continue the tour to our aquarium? We have many different species of fish all donated by a very generous fisherman.” Blathers paused mid-step by the sound of an empty stomach rumbling. He looked to Twilight as she blushed from the embarrassment. “I’m sorry... I haven't had anything to eat all day, Jack said there was a restaurant around here I could buy some brunch from.” she said giving a sheepish smile. Blathers gave a light chuckle before pointing back down the hallway. “It's nothing to be ashamed of. Just make your way back to the lobby and down a flight of stairs to the left. The Roost should be easily located by using the signs downstairs.” “Thanks... but there’s so much I want to learn here before I eat.” Twilight said with a smile before Blathers guided her towards the lobby. “Nothing to worry about miss Twilight. You can come and visit anytime and absorb as much knowledge as you can take in. What's more important right now is that you gain the daily nutrients needed for a healthy body”, Blathers said with a smile. Twilight giggled as she went towards the hallway. “Thank you Blathers, I’ll be here again soon!” she waved as she kept walking. As soon as Twilight was out of sight Blathers gave a heartfelt sigh as he placed his wing on his chest “Woah... She’s cute, smart, and she even listens to my lectures... I think I’m in love Hootie-Who!”