//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 : I Feel A Disturbance... // Story: A Twilight Landing // by MerlosTheMad //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle suppressed another yawn and used the metal spatula to flip the eggs on the stove top. The stove had been easy to figure out—thanks to the clearly labeled knobs and dials—even if it wasn't your standard wood or magic fairing type. More human ingenuity at work, she decided, to be sure. Odd or not, Twilight considered, Even without magic the humans' metal working is at least on par with our own. She studied the finely wrought spatula as it turned over in her hand. Meanwhile, she waited for the other side of the only things that resembled food in the kitchen to finish cooking—two eggs. Twilight sighed, Jo wasn't kidding when she said she had no food left. The ice box—which amazingly had no ice and obviously no magic spell—had been devoid of anything but some ancient bag of uneaten apples. Well, and those metal cans labeled 'bud wheezer'. Whatever those were. She turned off the fascinating, probably 'electric' kitchen appliance and went to fetch her still sleeping friend. Jo was still upstairs sleeping, and had been a motionless pile of blankets on the one end of the couch since the night before—or earlier morning, Twilight supposed. The unicorn had been talking to Jo for an hour and through several episodes of cartoons before realizing the other mare hadn't been awake for quite some time. So embarrassing.... But I guess it isn't so bad if I was the only witness. Twilight held a hand up to her mouth and covered another yawn while climbing the stairs. She had gone back to sleep, reluctantly, but only after the last episode had finished playing on the TV. That episode had been of the first Grand Galloping Gala she had attended with her friends. It was quite the night a couple years ago... and certainly her most memorable gala. It was just odd to her, watching her life replayed after a fashion, but with lots of little bits and pieces changed on the whole. Certain details didn't match, where as others were identical. The weirdest one definitely had to be when that jerk, Blueblood, showed up as a prince. Equestria doesn't even have princes, how does that make sense? Oh, he would just love that, too. The thought of the rotten stallion noble wasn't a welcomed one. Twilight shrugged the strangeness of the show off and drifted to instead think about the creators of said show. They were hard to forget about. I can't believe thousands... or wait, millions? Maybe even billions of humans watched a reenactment of me and the girls cause that disaster at the gala. Just thinking about that again made Twilight's face heat up to a bright red. Oh well, at least I didn't see an episode more embarrassing than that one, although some were close... Another sigh escaped her as she topped the staircase. Still, as creepily accurate as some of those scenes were, they really mess up the simple stuff. Fluttershy would never yell at animals like that... Despite her criticisms, Twilight had guiltily snickered the night before through nearly everything in the human's show. Twilight's bizarre replacement for her back legs' hooves took her down the hall to where the door for Jo's room lay open, surprisingly enough. "Jo, are- Holy hay fries!" She had to catch herself on the wall to keep from falling over. "Uhm, I see that, uhm, you're up." Jo stood in the doorway to her room, looking a great deal as if she had just crawled out of a changeling's cocoon. The girl's hair was matted on one side, and her eyes bagged horribly. "What?" The other mare's voice was a croak. She coughed and cleared her throat noisily while running a hand down her intimidating state. "You're up early." Twilight stared after Jo as she crossed the hall into the bathroom, shaking herself to get an answer out. "O-Oh, it's one in the afternoon, Jo. We both kind of slept in, and by the way there's an egg for you downstairs-!" The bathroom door abruptly closed behind the other mare while she was still speaking. "Ah, hmm." The door opened again a moment later. "Sorry Twilight, not used to having someone else in the house." Jo put her hands behind herself and earned a wince from Twilight when her spine popped. "Uggh, it's rough sleeping like that... My back's killing me." "No trouble at all," Twilight tried to keep a bemused look at the human's sleepy unawareness from taking over her own face. "I mean, I don't even know what to do yet or anything, right? So we're not in a hurry." She bit her lip and looked to the side, "Sorry, that sounded more obtuse than I meant it to..." "Lemme wake up, then we'll get down to business." Jo said in a comforting tone and accentuated by a confident stance. The wild bed-head and wrinkled clothing detracted from it, though. "I think you said something about remembering what landed you so far from cartoon land-" "Equestria, Jo," Twilight corrected flatly. "I'm just kidding." Jo waved a hand. "Like I was saying, from Equestria, so maybe we can start there." As Jo shut the door again, Twilight added, "I just made the last of your food, by the way. You're out of food now." Jo called back over the sound of running water. "Oh, that's right. We sat on our duffs talking all day yesterday. Sure we can go get some stuff, just give me, like, ten minutes." Twilight leaned back against the door opposite the one Jo had used. Just what exactly does 'getting down to business' entail, though? An unwelcome frown accompanied the unwelcome thought and she began to go back down the stairs. It's clear that I have nothing to work with, my stay here may very well be a forced vacation. She chose to use the word vacation; it made the situation seem less grim. To her, the reality was simply that even if it were possible to get back without magic, which very well may be the case, it wasn't something the humans had themselves discovered. As impressive as their gadgets were, they clearly weren't at all magic's equal. Twilight gingerly stepped over a calico patterned cat that had decided to sleep on the staircase; she had almost stepped on it. Hopefully Princess Celestia will find me, barring that... I may be- Well, no, I'll learn everything there is to know about wires and circuits before I admit to... to... Twilight paused at the doorway to the kitchen with a determined look, not daring to continue the sequential line of thinking. I'll see you girls again, just you wait. "It was pretty surreal, definitely, but I rather enjoyed it. I only slept a little bit afterwards, but it was peaceful. I think that what you did for me really helped out, Jo." Twilight leaned forward as much as she could, trying to make eye contact with her friend driving the car. She currently wore a thick sweater and some slacks that Jo had found that may not have even been hers. They were too short, and came up above Twilight's ankles a good deal, but considering their slim options—not to mention the chilling fall weather—it worked out fine. "Well that's good to hear, and sorry for passing out on you like that. I must have fairly quickly too, the last one I remember was 'Winter Wrap Up'." Jo tapped a finger on her steering wheel while she drove into the pathetically small city she lived outside of. It hadn't come up yet, but when driving a car you were supposed to keep your eyes on the road, at least if you wanted to stay on it. The other girl kept leaning on one elbow onto the dash though, trying in vain to make polite conversational eye contact. There wasn't any music playing. Jo had jokingly offered to play more of the songs from the day before. At this Twilight had quickly, and then more politely turned down the suggestion. Even a short, more docile example of a song had been refused. "Wow, then you were out for a while before I noticed." Twilight leaned forward again while she answered Jo. She laughed and teased, "You must love your rest if you can fall asleep and stay that way during something so funny." Jo rolled her eyes and sucked in a tired breath. "Yep, Rainbow Dash ain't got nothing on little old me. I'm glad it helped you out, Twilight." After a moment, she added, "Aaalso, I'm glad that reality didn't collapse in on itself." She slowly turned the steering wheel for her uncle's old mid-life-crisis car and pulled into the parking lot for her city's grocery store. Meanwhile, Twilight's eyes widened in shock where she was still trying to lean forward and make eye contact. More so now from the notion that had been put into her purple head. "Why on Equestria would our existence be in jeopardy because of that!?" she almost shouted. Jo spared the girl a glance and chuckled. "I didn't really mean it, Twilight. I dunno, in a lot of shows and stuff they say if you encounter yourself somehow it can create a paradox and shatter the world. The thought just now crossed my mind, 'huh, she's kind of meeting herself from another world. I wonder if it'll blow up now?'" The shorter girl smirked quickly at the other before parking. Twilight frowned back. "That's... pretty dark, do humans have anything to base that theory off of? We might need to be careful if-" She began to wrack her brain over possible contingencies, when Jo came to the rescue. "Don't worry about it, Twilight. We're perfectly safe, humans just like to think of worst case scenarios... a lot. It seems to kind of be what we do. You know, getting fascinated by everything there is." Jo stared out the window a moment before shutting off the car. It had come to stop just a few spots from the front of the grocery store. "Speaking of which, showing you more about humanity is going to be..." She looked over at the other human while formulating more to say, trying to picture her as the technicolor pony she had allegedly been. "It's going to be what?" Twilight asked, standing outside of her side's door. On her feet were a temporary pair of sandals, until something more permanent that fit her could be bought. She found them comfortable enough, though very different from the sollerets and shoes that would fit onto her hooves. "Also, are you going to stay in there all day?" Jo snapped out of it. The other girl's bright smile shone, almost like an euphemism for how innocent she and likely her entire people seemed to be. "No, I'm not. Because that means you'd have to do the shopping." She stood up and out of the car and swung the gull-wing door closed. "Anyway, I don't want to just cop out and say 'interesting'. From the sounds of it, Earth and its inhabitants aren't as tame as your world, Twi'. On top of that, we have a lot of problems that have sprung up as a result." "I see," Twilight answered. "I think I understand where you're going with that..." Her expression held a considering look, as if thinking about the possibilities. She stood still beside the open car door. "It's just, uh, complicated." Jo put a reassuring hand on Twilight's shoulder while she closed the other door. "It's not so big of a deal right now. We just need to get you home, so if you don't want to know more about us-" "Oh but I do!" Twilight exclaimed back, smiling again as they walked towards the store. "Even if I'm here under, hm, less than ideal circumstances, your race is still fascinating." Her expression flattened some from the joyful smile. "I also want to focus primarily on getting home though. So, we'll see, Jo." After a second she added, "But thanks for looking out for me." "Alright, just remember whenever we're in public, humans are very much a mixed bag. Around here you don't worry about anyone. Everyone in my town is pretty friendly, at least at the businesses. They gotta be if they want customers..." Jo trailed as she realized she was rambling, and Twilight was giving her a slightly funny look mixed with attentiveness. I'm over thinking this. "Just uh, be friendly when dealing directly with someone, but try to lay off randomly waving or smiling at people you don't know. Strangers sometimes take that the wrong way or get suspicious." She mulled over the words, hoping they had been the best advice she could offer. Just do what I do, ignore everyone... A grimace pointed at the ground as a result of the last thought she had on the matter. "I... see..." Twilight seemed a little crestfallen as a result of the explanation. "I wonder why humans are so... actually, is there a reason why humans are like this? Ponies are by and far very upbeat, even the overworked or snooty or lonely ones." She flopped one of her hands along with her head while she named off the few examples of ponies. "I mean, so far you seem just like anypony I might meet in Ponyville, if maybe a bit rough around the edges. Hehe, no offense. And your description of strangers is, honestly, kind of what I would expect from anywhere." Jo raised an eyebrow and tried to look insulted, but smiled and got one back from Twilight. "It's just..." Twilight continued. "I dunno, if anything, humans seem the same, but there are different factors in your world that point them towards different things. Like meat for example, or perhaps the lack of magic, or maybe even the fact there are so many more of you... Which by the way is a huge inconsistency with what I've come to expect of any race's natural procreative methods, other than parasprites that is... By the way, the show overly exaggerated about those little creatures a bit much and their rate of- Anyway, oh, not to call you humans parasprites by any means!" Jo laughed inwardly and shook her head, then grabbed a shopping cart and walked alongside Twilight, guiding the wayward unicorn with a hand while she was miles away in speaking her thoughts aloud. The purple headed girl gasped when the automatic doors opened suddenly, then continued talking as if nothing had happened. Twilight narrowly missed the edge of a fruit counter, laden with pineapples and watermelons. She was busy watching the automatic doors close behind her. "-ou mentioned at some point that there are eight billion humans on Earth, to achieve that many ponies, uh, hm, humans I mean-" "People," Jo added in, correcting her. She had explained in detail the day before several nuances to the English language that Equestrians didn't seem to share, along with a few ways humans liked to bastardize it, too. Twilight had shown no love for the reality that was 'slang'. "Right, people. Anyway, for that many humans to have fallen in love and given birth continuously over the course of your world's, er 'planet's' history... Why, they would have to fall in love and begin families far, far more than any other race in Equestria! Are humans almost purely focused on seeking their life partner? Dragons are somewhat like that, but they typically search for centuries. Perhaps, simply looking isn't the right explanation. Still, it isn't quite, uhm..." "Logical?" Jo offered, glancing out of one eye to Twilight while she grabbed a bag of celery. She frowned slightly at the bag. I can't even remember the last time I bought celery. Oh well, it goes great with peanut butter. Gah, stop that Jo, you're getting food for Twilight. Hm, if she's going to be vegetarianing it up, she'll need to eat a lot of eggs to get a good nutrition, which shouldn't be a problem since she likes them. At least I learned that much this morning; ponies eat milk and eggs. "Right! Logical." Twilight nodded her head rapidly, smiling over her friend's attentiveness. "Is there an explanation for that, Jo?" Jo had moved on, and was now busy comparing two brands of spaghetti. Hm, can't get meatballs, so maybe I should get the angel hair spaghetti, although it's a little bit more... Or maybe- "Uh, Jo?" Twilight popped up in front of the other girl where she'd ducked and stood up between her and the Italian noodles. "Wahh!" Jo nearly fell backwards, her left foot trying to back pedal too quickly and running into her right. Luckily, her attacker was close enough that she grabbed her by the arms to hold her up. Twilight immediately apologized, her hands still wrapped around Jo's skinny arms. "Sorry! Sorry, I get carried away when I'm trying to figure something out. Or when I'm nervous... or when I have to-" "Twilight," Jo dropped both boxes of spaghetti into the cart and held a hand over her heart to still its fearful beating. Flying Spaghetti Monster, thank you for not giving me Pinkie Pie to deal with, I would have died already. "It's fine, and as for humans... let's process of eliminate here." Twilight cocked her head to one side with a confused look, "Oh, you mean use process of elimination." "Yeah," Jo confirmed back to her taller associate. "That, same thing." A quick laugh of understanding and Twilight then nodded in agreement. "Okay, what do you have in mind?" She asked back. "Well, with humans it takes nine months for us to have a kid, how long does it take a pony- er, a mare." Jo specified after a thought. She stood with her hands on her hips while deducing with her Equestrian friend. "Hm, eight months, actually. Not a big difference, I think I see where you're going with this; that the inherent differences may lay with our physical variables, not our societal. What about the likelihood of humans to successfully have a child or achieving fertilization?" Twilight furrowed her brow whilst the two puzzled out the finer workings and differences of their two peoples. "Pretty good, actually, I take it that ponies have very, very low odds of successfully having a child when they mate?" Jo smirked a little when Twilight put on a disconcerted look after catching the wordage she had used. Twilight looked warily to the side and answered slowly, perhaps put off by the wording. "...Not so, ponies and most races in Equestria are fairly consistent, and usually only need to try a couple more times if their honeymoon wasn't successful. Okay so, you're figuring out why our own population might be so low? Not why yours is... high?" She put on a thoughtful look for a moment after catching Jo's drift, the pieces of the two's quest for knowledge falling together in her head. "Hm... I can't think of any particular reason that ours is low, rather, yours is extraordinary. It doesn't make sense, we seem to match almost identically in terms of basic anatomy and on the physical side of things..." Innocently, Twilight shrugged and kept walking down the aisle. "Honestly, I just figured humans might be way, way better at finding their one true love." Jo held up a hand and stopped the girl in her tracks. No way. She decided she had figured it out. The difference between humans—and pretty much every animal on Earth—from Equestria, was glaring. "Twilight," she began slowly. "Are you suggesting, no, in fact, are you telling me that ponies only... have sex, when they've fallen for one another? In 'True Love'?" "Jo!" Twilight's mouth hung open a moment, then she clasped a hand over Jo's. "You can't- not out loud! That's a really inappropriate word for a public setting." She glanced every which way and ducked her head as though she were passing along a secret, or a spy's dossier. Jo's mouth drew into a thin line of consternation under the other girl's hand. So we can talk about banging scientifically all day, but say the 's' word and you're done? Briefly, her mind wandered and she imagined how the pervier side of the show's old following might respond to this breaking news about ponies being prudes. It's as if I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. Her grin split her face at the same time her laughter picked up, she pulled Twilight off of her after. "My bad, Twilight. It's not exactly public conversation on Earth, either. However-" Twilight ceased looking around and scouting for someone who may overhear them to pay attention. "However?" She repeated, a worried look still on her face. "I've figured your little conundrum over our population out. The reason humans are so numerous on Earth, is because we don't just do it to have children, or use 'True Love' as a requirement to get busy." Jo watched while Twilight's face became more and more terror stricken at what was being said. The web designer couldn't help herself, she grinned wickedly and pushed the cart away down the aisle to the next item on her list. "That's right, when a guy and a gal are in the mood on Earth, they just ge-" "No! Nononono, no! No! Just, no! I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear any of it! No!" Twilight clasped her hands over her ears and remained back by the noodles, Jo walking away casually, except for the cackling laughter she couldn't help but indulge in. It was probably a little bit too mean, Jo decided, and was definitely stretching the truth. People are just so random, there's not much we won't do, but we're all minor cliques and subdivisions of thought. She sighed and picked up a thing of ginger ale, placing it under the cart. Oh well, maybe this will get her to remember to wear clothes from now on. "I can't believe you would tease me like that Jo." Twilight caught up alongside of Jo to catch her friend. The steps she took in the longer stride were... anything but graceful, but she managed to come to a stop again without teetering over. "Gwah, phew," She laid a hand on the cart to steady herself and scowled at Jo. "Did you really mean all of that? Or were you pulling a prank?" Jo nodded while tossing a few more things into the cart nonchalantly. It was starting to get full. "Eh, more or less I was telling the truth, but I embellished a little. Humans don't hold 'True Love' as you put it as a requirement, but we usually look for it, even if we don't all strictly believe we can find it. We definitely aren't very modest as a whole, either, but people don't just do it randomly or without thought. Honestly, it depends on the country, the culture, and the person. People are weird, everyone's different. Oh, hey, if I had to give a good example you might get, people are a bit like Discord, but without the powers or scary magic that could bend reality." There was a sudden gasp and the sound of glass shattering. Jo's head jerked around, Twilight had stopped in the hall and had widened eyes locked onto her. Behind the other girl, a grocer cursed over having dropped a glass bottle of marinara sauce. "Discord!? Y- How do you know about him? Oh, right, the show," Twilight gasped again. "Jo! What if he's the reason my potion went wrong? What if-" Jo calmed down upon seeing nothing was wrong, and relaxed, she began to weather the storm of worrying as she imagined she would many more. She waited and hoped that her own deflated look would spread to Twilight, as the girl had erupted into another one of the nervous rambling panic attacks she oft engaged in. Hm, I wonder if there was ever a pizza in an episode of 'Friendship is Magic...' Twilight said they had a pony Italy, so they probably do... Her random thoughts kept her distracted while Twilight explained fully the possibilities of Discord being involved. "-I wonder, could he be here right now? What if he's watching me, just waiting to see if I'll cave in and beg for his help... Jo I- AAH!" Twilight dropped to the ground under her hands when the loudspeaker suddenly came on overhead. Clean up in aisle- "It's him! DISCORD, WHEN I GET MY HOOVES- er, hands on you, I'll-!" Twilight was cut off when a certain, short human hauled her back up to standing. The act from Jo also put a stop to the fist shaking Twilight had been doing at the ceiling. Jo stared seriously at Twilight while she spluttered, still going, and obviously still in a heightened state of alert. Finally, the other girl's calm clued her in. The random stares from several other grocery goers also calmed her down. Twilight began to laugh nervously and waved to one elderly couple, their faces stark terror at what they were seeing unfold. "Eh-heh, sorry everypony..." She gulped, "I'm not crazy, I pro-" "Just quit while you're ahead, Twilight," Jo sighed out. "That was a loudspeaker, silly. They use it to talk to the employees and the shoppers without going to find them." She gestured at the ceiling with one hand. "Now calm down, if Discord was here I doubt that he would have been quiet for this long, he'd be gloating every second he got the chance, assuming his episodes were anything to go by..." While Jo spoke, Twilight wrung her hands ashamedly on her sweater's edge and looked around nervously at the other humans paying close attention to her. "Now, are you alright?" Jo asked. At Twilight's jerky nod, she smirked. "Alright, let's keep shopping then. Let me know if you see anything you'd like to try, too." As her new friend turned exit the aisle they were in, Twilight sighed and slumped heavily at her shoulders. A little tiredly, she turned to look at the elderly couple again as they walked away. It's... so strange being surrounded by something other than ponies. Humans look really, really weird too. She felt guilty over the thought, but it was true to her opinion. Good thing that if I think something unkind, I can leave it unsaid. A little smile crooked her face and she moved to follow after Jo. "So Discord's in the show, too? I can't imagine how ridiculous that must be..." Twilight shuddered as she came up alongside Jo again, the other mare busy comparing two little plastic bags that read 'ramen'. "Well, this trip has certainly been educational, huh?" She laughed nervously while Jo looked up briefly and flashed her a smile. "Yeah, it has been," Jo replied simply. "Not just that, but all considering I feel alright, too. I barely even realize where I am, in a strange new world. Maybe I'm the first pony to ever leave mine! Well, except maybe Luna, since she was imprisoned in the moon... But this is surely way further away than even that." Twilight put on a faux cheerful look. "So, while I'm here I might as well learn some about it. When I get back, maybe I'll get to be an ambassador." She pointed a finger at the little plastic packaging. "So what's this?" “A blessing from the gods, when you’re in college anyway.” Jo snarked back, smiling smartly. She dumped about forty of the packages into the filling cart. “Really? But I thought you didn't have supernatural anything? I'm really confused on that, Jo, you said people just had overly active imaginations and that everything in my world doesn't exist here. So which is it? Also, why would a god work in the food industry..." Jo pushed the cart out of the last aisle to the store, it was well on its way to full. All I need to get now is some frozen stuff like a pizza and some chicken and...- Her eyes widened as she was met by the age old open freezers of the frozen goods side of the market. The realization that she had been walking towards such obviously meat oriented things slammed into her like a semi. How did I not think of this all morning!? Aaugh, stupid Jo. She looked over at the still happily chatting Twilight. "Heeeey, Twilight," Jo began, pausing to look at a bottle of ketchup like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Twilight smiled and looked over from examining the shelves at random. "Hm? Yes Jo? Did you have an answer to contribute about-" "Ah, no," Jo said curtly. "Could you be an awesome pony and go get me some..." She wracked her brain over something that Twilight could go and get, something that she would recognize easily. "Candy!" Her brain burst out for her. Dammit, was that the best you could do? An angry reply drawled back, Eh, you get what you pay for, lady. "Sure thing! I saw that aisle all the way back by the vegetables. That's a really strange place to put it now that I think about it-" Twilight held a hand up to her chin thoughtfully, but an antsy Jo interrupted her again. "Oh yeah, yeah, it is." Jo paused and thought, Actually, yeah that's a terrible place to put that- Gah. "Just pick out something that looks good, my treat." She shrugged and smiled what she hoped was a convincing, totally not suspicious smile. "Really? Thank you so much Jo, I'll be back in just a moment! See if you can think of another explanation while I'm gone!" The other girl's voice faded out as she rounded another corner, and in the opposite direction of the meatier side of the grocery store. Jo let out a sigh of relief. "Close one," she muttered. Hurriedly, she pushed the cart into the main aisle and began to procure things she hoped wouldn't set off any alarms. Twilight happily hummed the human's rendition of a popular working song from back in Equestria. The ponies would typically sing and chorus the tune in question during 'Winter Wrap Up'. Humming it was both a fascinating exercise in both cross cultural examination, as well as simply fun to study the re-envisioned human jingle, verse by happy verse. And then, Twilight saw something that made her eyes widen by a considerable amount. The Candy aisle. How the hay did I miss this? her thoughts asked herself. She must have been busy worrying over Discord at the time. For Twilight, it was like staring into a corridor of pure sugar and happiness. Sure, she had been in candy stores like Sugarcube Corner or the big confectionery at Canterlot Square, but this was on a whole different level. Candy from red vines to gum drops; candies from any shape to any size lay strewn over the shelves on both sides of the aisles. Impressively, almost everything looked different from one another, too—all within a several meter long section of aisle spread out before her. “If Pinkie ever finds out about this world, I fear for its residents.” Twilight gulped, wondering how she would ever be able to make a decision on what to get. She loved candy as much as the next mare, especially chocolates... but it wasn't one of her specialties when it came to making random decisions. "Well I guess I'll just have to pick something based on the flavor." Twilight briefly looked around for the purveyor of the candies displayed around her, and face-hoofed when she recalled there wouldn't be one. Unmanaged open markets, humans must be incredibly honest to just leave all of the products they intend to sell laying out like this. Applejack would be impressed, that's for sure. Ruling out getting a free taste of something, Twilight picked up a box of very delectable looking chocolates—at least they appeared so judging by the box—and turned it over in her hands. I think chocolate's a pretty safe decision. I think I'll get- She paused and looked at a box that had several different strange, cartoon animals on the side. All of their depictions were of happy, smiling faces. Below them, multicolored versions of themselves hung, professing different flavors each. She shuddered and turned away. It's nothing strange Twilight, it's just their nature... Gah, who'm I kidding. I'll never get over eating another creature, whether they can talk back to you or not. Factoring in magic or a pony like Fluttershy, she supposed, any animal could talk in Equestria. I wonder if the same is true for Earth, that all this time those animals just can't talk back because they're physically unable... Twilight walked back towards where she'd last seen Jo, hugging the box of chocolate to her barrel tightly. Jo placed the last of what she'd decided would be viable food for at least a week in the cart. To be frank, she was the type of person to put off things like shopping, and usually bought canned goods or food that kept a while. Hm, Jack Link's? Or off brand? She hesitated over grabbing one or the other, until a well known voice guided her from the recesses of her mind. You should just get both, It said. Not a second later did Jo hear Twilight call her name, and cursed, throwing the bags of beef jerky back on the shelf. Sorry Dad, I almost forgot, I have a guest that doesn't take very kindly to tasty animal flesh. The voice replied, They sound like a weenie. "You okay, Jo?" Twilight waved a hand in front of her face and Jo looked over. "Yeah, perfectly perfect. I'm done I think, let's go check out." Jo began to push the cart towards the nearby cash register lane, eagerly wanting to get away from the distracting, meaty salted snacks behind her. I know Twilight said she's fine with the meat thing, but... I should've thought out this trip better. "Oh, good." Twilight shivered and rubbed her sweater enshrouded arms. "I kind of feel cold, I wouldn't mind getting home, er- To your home, I mean." The small reminder made her grimace. I keep forgetting the library is another world away... Uggh. Jo gave Twilight and her shaking a worried smile. "How are you feeling? Could you be coming down with something?" When Twilight nodded, she went on. "Huh, we'll check your temperature at the house, I didn't think to this morning." She leaned on the back of the shopping cart and stared into the pile of shopping goods. Don't let the lone proof of extra-dimensional life die from pneumonia, Jo you idiot. Twilight coughed and cleared her throat. "Okay, yeah I don't know, this doesn't feel like..." She put on an unsure expression. "-Like anything I've ever had before, it's... pretty sudden, and... just different." Jo turned to face and watch Twilight as the cart stopped, not sure what to say to that. The cart rolled up to the end of the grocery line, annoyingly enough, several shoppers had only just beaten them to the conveyer. Twilight began to watch intently at the normal, everyday chore of grocery shopping with vested interest. A mother in front of the duo was quickly placing items and foods onto the moving counter while desperately trying to control a little girl—probably hers. To the two standing at the back of the line, she didn't seem to be having much luck in doing so. "Jessica, stand, still! I mean it!" The probably-the-mother shouted and swiped a hand at the child that ducked away and around the cart. The little girl's crying and wailing shifted immediately to laughter as she sensed a chase. Her legs took her swiftly from the mother where she promptly grabbed a candy bar from the side of the narrow lane. The mother was angrily shouting at the little girl to come back, while she stood on the other side of the shopping carts proudly, opening the treat she had liberated for herself. Twilight stood, shocked at the display for a moment, and looked over at Jo. Jo shrugged back, and paid close attention to the shopping cart. Twilight looked back at the little girl, and their eyes met for a moment. She stared for a moment, then smiled and lowered herself down towards the rogue human child. "Hi there!" The wide eyed child stared back with a stupefied look. "Uhm, hello?" The little girl took a step back, and a bite from the candy bar. Twilight was about to continue, perhaps share a lesson about how behaving could improve your relation with not just your parents but others- The mother had rounded the area through an empty aisle though, and snatched up the girl's hand. A loud, obnoxious verbal berating and crying returned to the open area. Everyone in line sighed, except for Twilight and Jo. "Hey are you okay?" Jo asked, lending her friend a hand. Twilight had been caught off guard enough to have fallen backwards on her behind. "I'm okay, I-" "And you, don't encourage my daughter to misbehave or even come near her." The mother narrowed her eyes at Twilight, all the while spewing hatred. "Honestly, who do you think you are!? Mind your own business." The cart ahead of them pushed away, sobbing girl and angry mother behind it. "I can't believe the nerve of the trash around here these days." Twilight stared after the stranger with an expression bordering on a mix of blank, confusion, shock and fear. The helping hand offered to her went unnoticed, and Jo had to help her up by her shoulders. Jo glared at the other pedestrians that stared at them until they looked away. "Hey, it's fine, I had your back. Just ignore her." She tried to reassure the unresponsive Equestrian in the only way she knew how, but it was out of her element. "Twilight?" When an answer didn't come, Jo kept silent, a little more aware now at how attention grabbing her friend's brightly colored hair was. "Why did she act that way? I wanted to help, if I could." Twilight swallowed hard and stayed close to Jo, while the other girl put things on the strange moving tabletop. The whimsy and interest she'd had at watching human transactions was gone. Jo was about to keep silent on the matter, until the cash register lady looked at her and busily began to scan items inconspicuously. "Some people are just insensitive or mean like that, Twilight. All you can do is... ignore them and play things by ear." After a moment, and she wasn't sure why, she added, "When you can, you still act nice to them, hopefully they catch on." She glanced at Twilight, who stared thoughtfully at the slowly drifting products on the counter. "Eventually..." "I just don't get it, I guess." Twilight shrugged, and did a good job of putting on a cheerful grin under her uncertain eyes. "I think I know what you meant now, by people being so varied... it's a bit like if the other, meaner creatures on Equestria were all ponies, too." Jo smirked back at her, wanting to just undo the altercation that had just happened. "Just pretend she was secretly a changeling, and she thought you were about to discover her sinister plan of evil." She laughed when Twilight's eyes bugged for a moment, then relaxed again. "That's not funny Jo," Twilight said, weakly laughing back after a moment. The automatic doors opened up for the pair while they made their way out to Jo's car. "I'm still not sure I believe those at least, aren't magic." Twilight stared back at the sliding doorway as they continued out into the fall weather air, and shuddered when a strong breeze whipped by. "I'm telling you, one hundred percent not magic." Jo opened the trunk and began filling the small space with their numerous bags of nourishment. "I'll have to... research it to know for sure," Twilight leaned against the side of the car while Jo unloaded the cart. The other girl peered around the trunk door at the significantly subdued Twilight. Guess it's past time I got her home. Jo thought, frowning at the ground. If I ever see that... dammit, I would have told that jerk off any other day of the week. She considered the thought for a moment while she got into her car along with Twilight. Moral conundrums, what's right, what's wrong. I dunno, ponies seem to have the right of it though if Twilight's never been yelled at for no reason by some random stranger. Jo started the DeLorean. "Hey Twi'," She looked over at the Equestrian, who had a dimness to her expression. "When we get back, we'll look at cute cat pictures online, that'll cheer us right up." Twilight flashed a smile before slumping once more, resting against the side of her seat. "Sounds great, Jo...think I might just...go to sleep though." "Are you sure you're fine, Twilight. You don't need anything else?" Jo asked pensively from the side of the bed at Twilight. "I'm alright," Twilight hugged the cool pillow to her face, a pounding unlike any she had ever felt going on in her head. Her stomach felt upset and her body ached too, they were alien feelings. "I just want to go to sleep, so I don't have to be awake right now." Jo frowned at the immobile form of her friend. "Alright, I'll be right back though I'm going to get you some cold medicine and stuff for you, it should help. I'm pretty sure that's what you have." Twilight glanced up from the pillow after her friend had gone. Medicine, huh? I've never had to take medicine for anything before. Guess there's a first time for everything... Her head plonked back down on the pillow while she waited for what she hoped would be a miracle cure. I can't believe how wicked that mare was, I wasn't...maybe she thought that I was being mean to her daughter? I guess it could have been that, just a misunderstanding. Her thoughts continued to wander while she laid prone, trying to work through the pain in her head. "Twilight, you still awake?" Jo asked again from the bedside. "Here, sit up, I've got some stuff for you." Twilight peeked out of one eye, keeping the other clamped shut against the pain, then sat up. "Mm'kay." "Just hit the button on this thing here if you need me, alright?" Jo watched as her guest shuddered after gulping the cough medicine, then eagerly washed it down with some water. "Uggh, that was terrible, that's what medicine tastes like?" Twilight grimaced and laid back down. Jo rolled her eyes, "Well, I don't know what kind of fancy magic you use in Equestria to cure the common cold, but that's what we have here. Besides, it tasted way worse when I was a kid so you have it easy." "Muh..." Twilight mumbled her reply. "Don't use magic for medicine, don't need to. There's no way this is a common cold, this is horrible, this is like, super poison mixed with a year's worth of exposure... I guess maybe my body hasn't adjusted to Earth or something..." She coughed and rolled over to look at Jo. "I'll be fine, I'm sure of it." The worried look Jo returned to her didn't exactly say that her host was convinced. "This button here Twilight, just hit that and I'll be down." Jo smiled weakly at her friend. "Well, we were going to get you some clothes, but I guess that can wait..." She sighed and pulled a cat off the foot of the bed, intending to leave the room empty. Twilight looked over, then shut her eyes and let out a tired breath. "Okay, Rarity-" The obvious slip of the name cut the sentence short. Jo took a quiet step back in the ensuing quiet, except for the meowing of her old cat. "I'm sorry-" Twilight began to say. "It's alright Twilight. Get some rest." Jo walked slowly out of the room after Twilight mumbled another reply to her. To keep the cats from going in and bothering her again, she shut the door.