//------------------------------// // Getting Settled // Story: Twitanic // by AdrianJNovelle //------------------------------// "How many in your party?" a tall, thin woman holding a clipboard with a pen balanced on her ear asked. "Um..." Twilight began. "Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Fourteen." "Fourteen," the woman repeated, feeling around herself for her pen. "Um," Twilight said. She pointed to her own ear. The woman felt around her ear, found the pen, grasped it, and put it to her clipboard. "Ah, thank you. Okay, fourteen people in your party...names, please?" "Twilight Sparkle." "F-Fluttershy." "Pinkie Pie!" "Applejack." "Rain-bow Dash!" "Rarity." "Ap'le Bloom." "Scootaloo." "Sweetie Belle." "Prince Shining Armor." "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." "Spike." "Eeyup." "He's Big Macintosh, and Ah'm Gran'y Smith." The woman took a few moments to finish writing the names down. "Okay, and ages? Please go in the same order so I don't have to guess." "Sixteen." "Seventeen." "Sixteen!" "Six'een." "Sixteen!" "Eighteen." "E'ght." "Eight." "Eight." "Twenty-six." "Also twenty-six." "Ten." "Eeyup." "He's twenty-four. Ah'm sixty-eight." "Okay. I noticed you have some foals under twelve years of age here. This is a completely safe and child friendly trip, but I understand if the elders would like to share a suite with their younglings. Would you like to arrange that?" "That depends," Rarity began, stepping forward, Sweetie Belle behind her. "How big is a suite, exactly?" The woman did not reply immediately. "Please follow me," she said. The lady led the large party of ponies people to a grand staircase which separated the main floor from the living quarters. Upstairs was nothing but another staircase, and a long hallway of rooms which seemed to stretch endlessly before them, a soft, cream carpeting under their feet, and the most pleasing lightning design a pony person could imagine bringing the empty halls to life. The woman continued down the hallway for only a few steps - past the staircase which led to the third floor - to an empty suite to her left, Suite 101. She flipped on a switch. The suite was huge. A vast room greeted everypony, with two queen-size beds flat against one of the side walls, nightstands with lamps between each, a large desk with yet another lamp parallel to the beds on the other side of the room, a comfortable-looking chair scooted up to it, and, continuing further was clearly a closet at the far end of the room; beside it was a short hallway which led to the bathroom, and, beyond that was what appeared to be the door to a second room. "There's a living room beyond the bathroom," the lady explained. "I know it may seem a little awkward, but we wanted the bedrooms closest to the hallway, so should there ever be an emergency, anyone sleeping can have the quickest route out of the place. It's strictly for emergency purposes." "What's in the bathrooms?" Rarity inquired, otherwise in awe at the spectacle. "The usual," the lady replied. "A toilet, twin sinks, an oversized shower which is literally big enough for two people, and a Jacuzzi tub big enough for a small party. Check it out for yourself if you don't believe me." "Oh, I believe you," Rarity said. She looked down at the smaller human. "What do you say, Sweetie Belle?" "Um," Sweetie Belle tugged at her dress. "I guess we could share a suite...what would I need a separate suite for?" "Duh," Scootaloo said, stepping forward to look Sweetie Belle in the eyes. "We can build a furniture fort! Nothing says 'vacation in the sky' like the world's largest furniture fort!" "Hey, yeah!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Ah'm in," Apple Bloom added, also stepping forward to the other Cutie Mark Crusaders. "So, what are we doing?" asked the lady to the older folk, particularly Twilight. "A separate suite for the little ones?" "Except for me, right?" Spike wondered. "I'd be more comfortable with Twilight." "Of course, Spike. You can bunk with me. Looks like the Cutie Mark Crusaders will get their own suite." "We only need one," Princess Cadence remarked, holding her husband's hand. "Right. And everyone else will have their own suite, except Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. She'll need the youthful energy." "Eeyup." "Okay, that will be...nine suites. Hallways come in rows of ten, so you will have one neighbor at the far end. Will that be acceptable?" "Of course," answered Twilight. "Please follow me back to the cockpit, and I will hand you your room keys." The lady once again led the entire party back to the front of the airship. She resumed conversation about halfway to her destination. "So, who is the leader of your party?" "The leader?" Twilight asked. "Yeah. I like to assign each party a leader to minimize confusion. So if there's any trouble, I don't have fourteen people coming at me: I only have to deal with one person on behalf of his or her entire party. So, who is your leader?" "Um..." Twilight studdered. "Why not you?" Fluttershy asked. "You are Princess Celestia's most faithful student." "Granny Smith is the eldest," Twilight retorted. "As much as Ah appreciate the offerin', Twilight," Granny Smith began, limping behind her. "Ah think the best person t' lead dis here party is auh young'n like yerself." "I guess it is unanimous, then," said Twilight. "I will lead the party." "Excellent," the woman said as they arrived at the cockpit, to a console which displayed the numbers of suites: 101 to 110, 201 to 210, 301 to 310. She punched in the buttons for Suites 101 to 109, all nine room keys being expelled from a small compartment below the buttons. She grabbed them. "Unfortunately, I am only able to have one key per suite." "It's no trouble," Twilight said, taking 101. Each of the girls took their own room key, Sweetie Belle taking the one for the Cutie Mark Crusaders (107), Princess Cadence taking Suite 108 for herself and her husband, and Big Macintosh taking the key for himself and Granny Smith for Suite 109. "Alright, with that, you may go to the cabin, get your things, and settle in. Lunch will be ready in about two hours." "Spike, stop jumping on the bed!" Twilight snapped at her roommate as she passed by in a pace. "I thought we agreed that this would be my bed," Spike protested. He pointed to the other bed. "And that would be your bed." "I still don't want you jumping like a maniac. It's not polite." Spike kept jumping and did a flip. "SPIKE!" "Okay, fine," Spike hopped into a seated position on his bed. The sound of springs moving obssessively continued. "Who is making that- oh, Pinkie Pie, of course." "Whee!" Pinkie Pie shouted gaily, leaping from one of her beds to the other and back. Twilight rolled her eyes. "I thought this was supposed to be our vacation," Spike remarked. "But all that we've accomplished so far is settling in. We haven't done anything fun." "You realize we haven't even gotten off the ground yet?" Twilight inquired her foster-son. "And until we do, I want to keep a tight fist on everyone and everything. Getting off the ground is the hardest part. Once we've disapatched, we can-" The door to Suite 101 burst open. "Hey, Spike!" Apple Bloom hollered across the room. "You wanna help us with our furniture fort?" "Do I!" Spike exclaimed. He hopped off the bed and hurried to the Cutie Mark Crusader. When he got to the doorway, he suddenly turned around. "Will that be alright, Twilight?" "Oh, go ahead," Twilight gestured with her hand a dismissive wave. "You sure?" "Mmm-hmm." Spike grinned, following Apple Bloom back to her suite. He did not witness the rather unpleasant look Twilight gave him as he disappeared. She sat at her desk, which she furnished by bringing some parchment notebooks, quills, loose parchment paper, and ink jars for all the writing she planned on doing in addition to the inevitable reading she desired to accomplish. She would write about her adventure in the clouds, and even letters to the Princess which would all go unsent until they got back. What would be the point? Celestia would be there when they would land: she could just tell her in person. Two strangely familiar figures moved in the corner of her eye which grabbed her attention. They were none other than Fancypants in his expensive-looking tuxedo and monocle, and Fleur de Lis, in her white dress which, should it be any longer, could be mistaken for a wedding dress, if not for the golden edges it featured; and her golden tiara on her pink-and-white hair. Those must be our neighbors Twilight though to herself. Should she greet them? After all, they were on the same floor as she. But, then again, would it be necessary? They are all contained within relatively close quarters. With nothing urgent to do, she decided to introduce herself. She got up from her chair and followed the folk to the suite door, arriving just before they entered their suite. "Good morning neighbors," she said, faking a happy expression. "Good morning," said Fancypants, adjusting his monocle. "Do we know you, miss?" "I don't think so," Twilight replied. She outstretched her hand. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, of Suite 101." "I'm Fancypants," he shook her hand. "And this is my roommate, Fleur de Lis. When the Airborne Express flew by Canterlot and handed out admissions, we knew we just had to come aboard. Anypony who's anypony is aboard this airship. And I'd say we are quite honored to ride along." "Are you two?" Twilight gestured with her finger her innuendo. "Oh, no," chuckled Fancypants. "Just roommates." "I see." "Would you like to come in as our special guest, Ms. Sparkle?" "Oh, no, I, uh...I have some work to do," she lied. "Still getting settled?" Twilight nodded. "Yes, sir." "Oh. Well, we won't keep you then, Ms. Sparkle. Don't be a stranger now - stop by whenever you like." "I will," she said, almost sarcastically. She started to turn away. "Ms. Sparkle, one last thing," added Fancypants. She turned back round. "Yes, Fancypants?" "Do you know a pony named Rarity?" "Yes; she's one of my friends." Fancypants perked up. "Is she now?" "Yeah, she's in Suite 104. I'm sure she'll be happy to meet you." "We're already acquainted, but I'll be sure to give her a hello when we depart. Take care, Ms. Sparkle!" "Take care." Twilight made a permanent leave that time as Fancypants and Fleur de Lis entered their suite. As she made the short walk back, she suddenly remembered: she had met Fancypants before: in Canterlot, on her birthday, after the disaster she and her friends caused in the garden. Then...why did he not recognize her? Don't tell me it was because we were humanized Twilight thought to herself. She wildly shook her head. "What am I saying?" she asked herself aloud. Still, she recognized Fancypants, and played along when he wondered if they were previously acquainted. He was the pony person to call her and her friends "charmingly rustic" if memory serves. Maybe compared to Rarity, Twilight did appear a little less formal. After all, Rarity was the one wearing the fancy, white dress which stretched down almost to her knees, the white blouse under the white coat with the triple-diamond cutie mark, and the fancy, white shoes with no socks and the moderately tall heels. Twilight wasn't wearing anything like that. But she wasn't a Western country girl like Applejack, or a party animal like Pinkie Pie. She was mature for her age, and has proven to be a very responsible and independent person. So...why was she so easily forgotten?