Calvin, now under the alias 'Napalm', sat in Fluttershy's kitchen with his forelegs crossed. Of all the worlds he ended up in, it had to be the one with talking ponies. Progress on finding any cardboard was halted now that Hobbes was enjoying himself. Calvin watched as he bit into a fish Fluttershy prepared for him.
"I usually keep these fish for the seals." stated Fluttershy. "But they're at the aquarium in Vanhoover right now, so take as much as you like."
"Don't mind if I do!" Hobbes cheerfully replied with half a fish hanging out of his mouth. "I'll pretty much eat anything anyways."
"And here you go Napalm." Fluttershy placed a daisy sandwich in front of Calvin.
"Um.. thanks." thanked Calvin. "That's right, ponies are vegetarians. Guess I'll have to make do."
Calvin carefully positioned the sandwich on his hoof and took a bite. Despite being in the body of a pony, all his senses from his human body remained. The flowers tasted bitter in his mouth, and Calvin desperately avoided spitting it out. He suddenly found a new appreciation for his mother's cooking. After a few bites, he was used to it and quickly wolfed it down.
"So Napalm." Fluttershy started. "Do you just travel by yourself with Hobbes?"
"Yeah." Calvin replied. "He's my best friend. I wouldn't go anywhere without him."
"Um, ok. What about your family? If you're with a tiger, you're from the jungle aren't you?"
"Uh, yeah." Calvin answered, trying to figure out a cover story. "In my village, it's, uh, a tradition for young ponies to travel into the world and discover themselves. Hobbes is accompanying me for protection."
"Oh! You're out to find your cutie mark?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"My what?"
"Cutie mark! You know! The mark that appears on your flank when you discover your special talent?" Pinkie Pie turned around and showed them her balloon cutie mark.
"Yeah, my cutie mark!" Calvin quickly replied. "I'm on a journey to find my cutie mark."
"I was wondering what those marks on their butts were."
"Well, we understand that your tradition is important Napalm." stated Fluttershy. "But we can't let a young colt such as yourself wandering around, even with a tiger. You're going to need a place to stay."
"I don't mind staying here!" Hobbes suggested, finishing the last of his fish.
"Uh, Hobbes? A word?" Calvin walked into the living room and signaled Hobbes to follow.
"Be right back." told Hobbes Pinkie and Fluttershy as left to join Calvin.
As Hobbes entered the living room, Calvin made sure they were far enough away so they wouldn't be in earshot.
"Hobbes, you're not actually thinking of staying here, are you?" he asked. "We need to find that cardboard so we can go home!"
"I know, but we need a place to sleep, don't we?" Hobbes replied. "We're obviously gonna be here for a while, so why not enjoy it while we can?"
"Because I don't want to be in world filled with girly ponies!"
"You're the one who wanted to go world traveling. You're the one who didn't enable the safeguards. Henceforth, it's your fault we're stranded here. Since went through all this trouble to go world traveling in the first place, we might as well enjoy the world we traveled to."
"This isn't the world we wanted to go to!" Calvin protested. "We were supposed to be supreme leaders and have everything we wanted!
"Ok, I get that. But we can't just leave, Fluttershy is concerned for you because you're still young. We'll just to have to live this through and find the cardboard as we go."
Hobbes was correct. Calvin growled at this, growing frustrated that he would have to be stuck in this world much longer than he thought. 'This is one of the few times that I wish I didn't mane my stuffed tiger after a philosopher.'
"Fine. We'll stay. But as soon as we get the cardboard we need, we're outta here!"
"Hey Napalm? Hobbes?" Fluttershy called from the kitchen. "Are you two finished talking? I wouldn't want to interrupt you in the middle of a conversation."
"It's fine Fluttershy, we're done talking." Calvin replied.
Fluttershy entered the living room with Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing around happily.
"I've decided to let you two stay here at my place. I'd love to learn more about tigers, and I guess you can't separate two best friends, can you?" the pegasus stated.
"Really?" Hobbes replied. "That's great!"
"In fact, it's so great that..." said Pinkie Pie.
Suddenly, Fluttershy's cottage was filled with streamers and balloons. Confetti exploded from the ceiling and rained down over the pastries set up on a table. Almost all of Ponyville was gathered in the cottage, sending most of the animals outside to hide.
"...THIS CALLS FOR A PARTY!" Pinkie Pie finished. She placed a record on the gramophone and a familiar tune began to play.
"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Calvin, who was bewildered at the sudden outburst.
"All right, a party!" Hobbes cheered. "Look, Ca- Napalm! She made cupcakes!"
"Um, please remember everypony, this is my house..." Fluttershy quietly stated. "So please be gentle with everything, and try not to startle the animals..." No one could hear her over the music and loud chatter.
"How on Earth did that pony organize a party so fast?" Calvin said out loud. "Where did those streamers come from? Where was everyone hiding in this small cottage? How did she bake those treats so whoa those cupcakes do look pretty good."
Napalm tried to grab the cupcake with his hooves, but lack of fingers made it more difficult than the daisy sandwich earlier. Instead he ate the cupcake on the table with his mouth and not one pony tried to stop him.
"Wow, these cupcakes are amazing Hobbes!" Napalm exclaimed. "Way better than the ones at home!"
"Tell me about it!" Hobbes replied with assorted pastries stuffed in his mouth. "If your mom found out about how much junk we're eating, we'd be in big trouble!"
"Mom's not here is she now?" Napalm stated.
"Excuse me, you're Napalm and Hobbes, correct?" a voice asked.
Napalm turned around to be greeted by a purple unicorn.
"Uh, yeah, that's us." Napalm answered.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle." the unicorn replied. "I heard a lot about you two from Pinkie Pie. I've read many books about pony tribes that live in the jungle but I never thought I'd actually get to meet one!"
"Books huh?" Napalm asked. 'She must be a studious mare. If Twilight knew too much, she might discover we're lying.'
"Unfortunately, not much research has been done since the jungles are dangerous." Twilight stated. "I also didn't know tigers could speak!"
"I also didn't know unicorns existed!" exclaimed Hobbes.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. Napalm held up a hoof to reply, "That's because we usually don't see any in our village. Pegasai arn't seen so much, either. In the jungle it's mostly, uh, earth ponies."
"That does make sense." Twilight replied, rubbing her chin with her hoof. "Navigating the harsh jungle landscape requires stamina and strength that only earth ponies can provide."
Napalm wiped the sweat off of his brow when she wasn't looking. 'Phew, she bought it. For now.'
"So what does the horn do anyway?" Napalm asked.
"It lets me use magic."
"Magic?"
"Yes, like this." Twilight's horn glowed purple, and a cupcake flew through the air into her mouth.
"Wow, I wish I could do that."
"Is this the jungle boy?" a blue pegasus asked. Her mane was a mix of several colors, and she had a lightning bolt for a cutie mark with a cloud over top.
"That's me!" Napalm gloated. He was enjoying the attention somewhat.
"That is so cool! Was it like the jungle in Daring Do? Does your tribe fight off any dangerous beasts? You don't look all that tough to me..."
"Uh, Daring Do?" Napalm tilted his head.
"It's a fictional novel series." Twilight answered. "Mostly for young fillies, but adult colts and mares like them too."
"Excuse me."
Napalm, Hobbes, Twilight, and Rainbow turned to Fluttershy.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't interrupt did I?"
Napalm groaned. This pony was way too apologetic for her own good.
"That's ok Fluttershy, what's on your mind?" asked Twilight.
"Well, if he's going to be staying here, shouldn't he be enrolled in school?"
'Oh please no.' Napalm begged to himself.
"I think that's a great idea!" Twilight exclaimed. "He could learn so much about our society and maybe get to teach the class about his!"
"They have school here too?" Napalm gritted his teeth. "If they send me off to school all day, I'm not gonna have time to find that cardboard!"
"That sounds wonderful!" Fluttershy replied. "I'll talk with Cheerilee tonight so he can be enrolled first thing Monday morning!"
"WHAT?"
Despite repeating to Twilight and Fluttershy that they (which means Calvin) learned in their school was finished and he didn't need to go to school, one look into Fluttershy's eyes made him agree. Because, well, who could resist Fluttershy's adorable Doe eyes?
After Fluttershy and Napalm met with Cheerilee at the party, Napalm groaned as he sat down beside Hobbes, who was taking a nap on the couch.
"Can you believe it Hobbes? They're actually sending me to pony school!"
"It can't be that bad!" Hobbes replied with his eyes closed. "And besides, it's the weekend right now, so we can probably find cardboard before then and you won't have to go to pony school!"
"I guess you're right Hobbes." Napalm replied. "I can't wait to get out of this stupid world."