Chapter 18
ENTER THE WINNEBAGO
(Reminder that I own nothing!)
‘Thought’
“Dialogue”
“Words in a foreign language.”
“Quoting in thought”
***
Today had been a wonderful day for Lily. She had just checked up on her flowerbed, which had been growing so well. Of course it should have been, raising flowers was her special talent, after all. The roses had been in full bloom, the chrysanthemums were the brightest shade of gold, and her lilies had the perfect amount of pink speckles on their petals. Phooey on ponies who said flowers couldn't bloom during the Winter, what did they know about proper gardening?
Lily was on her way to Fluttershy’s cottage at the moment. Being the best gardener in Ponyville, sometimes ponies asked her to tend to their own gardens while they were away. Fluttershy, who had left town almost a week ago, had been anxious about leaving her plants and animals to fend for themselves. Lily had offered to take care of Fluttershy’s garden and her animals were being taken care of by Spike.
Lily had actually quite enjoyed taking care of the plants on Fluttershy’s property, the pegasus had wonderful taste. All of the flowers around her little cottage had the sweetest smells and the blossoms were the softest shades of pink, yellow, and blue. To Lily it was almost like tending to a garden of clouds. Clouds covered in freezing snow, but still clouds!
How would she start off in Fluttershy’s garden today? The sunflowers had been looking a little under the weather yesterday, maybe she should give them an extra look over today and make sure there weren’t any pests hanging onto them. That happened sometimes with Fluttershy’s cottage being so close to the Everfree Forest. The dandelions Fluttershy insisted on keeping around might also need some extra attention today. With how weedy they were, Lily didn’t always give them the attention they were due. Oh, and she would...
What was that noise?
Lily came to a halt, spinning her ears this way and that to try and find the source of the noise. It almost sounded like it was coming from the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, but Lily couldn’t even imagine what the source of the sound was. It was sort of like a really loud, really angry fluttering noise, like a million butterflies had suddenly become murderously furious. There was also a whistling somewhere behind the flutter. Lily quirked her head. What in Equestria was it? Was it getting closer?
And then the section of forest directly in front of her exploded. A square, metal behemoth came roaring out of the underbrush, trailing vines and roots and one very large tree branch. Lily could only stand there, petrified in terror.
It was another one of those monsters that had come out of the forest almost a month ago, only this one was a whole lot bigger. And louder. And it hadn’t slipped and killed itself on a mudbank like the last one.
The beast was going to get her. Lily was too scared to even move, and even if she hadn’t been, she knew that the beast would have just chased her down. She wouldn’t have been able to outrun it.
To Lily’s complete surprise, the beast did not, in fact, devour her whole. Instead, it simply rolled to a stop in the field beyond Fluttershy’s cottage. Had it always been that far away? The roar had stopped too. Now the beast was... humming? Why was it humming?! And it was getting bigger!
It really was going to eat her! It was going to get big and mean and then it was going to chase her down and gobble her up like a ravenous manticore, she just knew it.
And then it stopped again.
What was it doing now? It was just standing there in the field, not moving or anything. Was it... was it plotting? Was it going to wait until night came before it came to get anypony? Before Lily was able to finish pondering the current situation, another new development sent her into another panic. Something was coming out of the monster.
It was a... a thing. With arms and long hair. And it was looking at her. Oh no! It had seen her, it was going to come and get her, she knew it! It was raising its arm! It was going to cast some sort of black magic and get her! It was...
Lily fainted.
***
I stepped slowly down the steps and out into the snow, Eleison had taken off the moment the big Winnebago had stopped its ten mile an hour crawl through the dense forest. The moment I finally saw where she had gone I couldn’t help but roll my eyes in amusement, Eleison was carrying some idiot pony person back to the RV like they were an oversized teddy bear. Her arms were hooked under the pony’s front legs. Judging by the snow clinging to the thing’s face and mane, it looked like it had passed out in the snow somewhere. ‘Who honestly takes naps in a snow covered field?’
Several gold clad guard ponies, accompanied by the Wonderbolts, (I couldn't help but roll my eyes a bit every time I heard that name), dropped into the snow from where they had been following my slow drive through the forest from the air, followed shortly by the two ‘pony princesses.’ “...I have a feeling its going to take a while to get used to that,” I mumbled, watching Eleison trudge through the snow with a massive grin on her face.
“Used to what?” Luna asked from behind me.
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.” was my clipped response. I could practically feel her glaring at my back. Feeling the need to excuse myself from Luna’s experiment with heat vision, I took a few steps toward Eleison and cupped my hands around my mouth. “Eleison, put that down. You don't know where that’s been!” I shouted. The distance wasn't really that far but it gave me an excuse not to pay attention to the ponies filing out of what had once been Jerry’s Winnebago.
I could hear Luna scoff at my apparent lack of manners but I couldn't bring myself to care at the moment.
“It fell over in the snow! Can I keep it!?” Eleison shouted back earning an amused look from Celestia and an exasperated sigh from Luna. Most of the nine other ponies hadn't been paying attention and shot the red headed girl some strange looks. The two exceptions were Pinkie Pie, who giggled, and Rainbow Dash, who looked ready to do something idiotic, which I had decided was her primary character trait.
“I don't believe our subject would much appreciate becoming your pet, dear. Now, could you please bring her here? She looks like she could use some assistance,” Celestia said, fighting to keep her amused smirk from growing into a face splitting grin. Eleison carried the limp pony over to the group and handed her off to the gold plated guards before quickly stepping over and wrapping her arms around my neck. I blushed a little at the contact but ignored it. She was just cold. Probably.
“Hey, isn't that Lily?” Sweetie Belle spoke up from her place on her sister’s back.
“It sure is. Wonder what she was doin’ all the way out here.” Applejack replied.
“Um, I think it was my fault,” Fluttershy piped up in that tiny voice she had when she was nervous about something. “I asked her to try and keep my garden alive through this winter so the animals who came back early would have plenty to eat. Oh, it must have been too much for her, I hope she’s ok.” She hung her head in abject guilt.
“Oh fiddlesticks Fluttershy, t’aint no way she worked herself into the ground just cause you asked her to help with yer garden.” Applejack waved a hoof to dispel the sudden rain cloud that seemed to hover over her friend. “Everypony knows Lily faints at the drop of a hat, somethin’ probably just startled her.”
“Yes. I wonder what that could have been.” Luna practiced her heat vision on the RV. She had been so excited to get to ride in the thing when we had set out that morning, but she’d chosen to reverse her opinion once we’d left the smooth roads of the town and entered the not-so-smooth forest floor. I think it had something to do with bumping her horn into the ceiling every three minutes. Or so.
“Hey, I was going as slow as I could, not the machines fault your ponies are afraid of a big box on wheels.” I snarked still trying to ignore the uncomfortable amount of red headed attention. “I also told you your slippers wouldn’t have traction on the linoleum, but we all know how well you listened.” ‘Gee, with all the practice Luna’s getting today, she’ll probably be able to give Superman a run for his money.’
Rarity shot the two humans a coy smile. “Well, seeing as the situation is well at hoof, perhaps you two would like to drop by the boutique? To browse some ‘formal’ attire. I’m sure I have some lace that Soarin hasn’t ruined somewhere.” Twilight face-hoofed at the obvious insinuation while Luna struggled to keep her icy scowl from melting as she fought the urge to smile at the joke.
“I'm afraid that there are much more pressing matters at the moment, Rarity. Perhaps there will be time to browse for wedding attire later.” Celestia said, allowing her expression to settle into an amused grin.
I cleared my throat to try and steer the conversation back towards some semblance of sanity, although my beet-red face did a pretty terrible job of hiding my embarrassment. “Well, since I'm in no mood for matchmaking, you guys have fun. I'll just stay here,” I said and quickly stomped up the stairs and back into the warm interior of the RV, followed shortly by a certain red head who didn’t know the definition of personal space.
***
“Ah think ya’ll hurt his feelin’s.” Applebloom said, wincing slightly as the door slammed shut behind the two aliens.
“That was kinda mean,” Scootaloo agreed.
“Oh, I was only teasing. The poor dear needs to lighten up a little,” Rarity scoffed.
Luna frowned and glanced at her sister, whose face softened to a slightly sad expression. “We do need him to settle some legal matters before we progress, sister,” Luna ventured.
Celestia sighed. “I suppose you're right, the sooner we get the formalities out of the way the better it will be for everyone.”
“Hold on, I’ll get him,” Twilight groaned and followed the two humans into their new home. The ‘house on wheels’ Chris had called it. Twilight had already taken as many notes as she could manage with the rough trip through the Everfree and she had to restrain herself from taking more. The ‘pop outs’ were an amazing feature of the house. They changed the vehicle from a cramped living space into quite the roomy little house. When Chris had mentioned that the interior ‘got bigger’ she had been skeptical. Twilight had suspected the vehicle had somehow folded up like Trixie’s cart. To her surprise, the thing had instead simply expanded. It had felt like being trapped inside a giant animal’s lung as they took a deep breath.
Twilight finally managed to pick her way to the top of the uncomfortably steep stairs and looked around. Chris wasn't to be found in the driver’s seat so she looked back into the area where the Princesses and her friends had ridden.
She found the humans sitting on the couch. Chris had given the girl, Eleison, a book to occupy her time and, to Twilight’s surprise, she appeared to be reading voraciously. Chris sat next to her, calmly turning the pages of his own book. The strange symbol that was the pendent on his neck was also emblazoned on the cover of the book. She desperately wanted to know what was in that book, but when she had asked earlier he had been evasive and the project to translate human writing wasn't far enough along to provide a translation. Chris turned the page and looked surprised for a moment, then thumbed through the last few pages quickly before setting it aside and pulling out another volume from a box and continued reading.
“Umm, hello? The Princesses wanted to let you know that they needed you to sign some papers,” Twilight spoke up, stepping out onto the beige carpet. Chris sighed and shut his book, leaning back and grabbing his nose in a gesture Twilight didn't quite recognise.
“Of course they do,” Chris said in a voice that even though the translator sounded exasperated. “Come on Elly, don't want you burning the house down.”
“Elly?” Eleison mumbled sounding confused.
“What? Too soon for a nickname?” Chris asked as he stood and began putting on yet another coat.
“No... it’s okay, I like it,” Eleison said.
“Ok, if you're sure, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable,” Chris said zipping up a garment that almost doubled the size of his upper body. Twilight couldn't help but giggle a little bit, he looked kind of like an overweight minotaur with that on.
“Elly, find a coat. I think theres one in one of these bags.” Chris motioned to several black sacks made out of a strange material he had quickly filled with clothes just before they had departed. “There’s no telling how long whatever they want us to do will take.... And what are you laughing about Ms. Fuzzbutt?”
Twilight went from laughing at the overstuffed looking human to scowling at the nickname. “Fuzzbutt?” She said without humor.
“What? Too soon for a nickname?” Chris asked in a mocking tone as Eleison struggled to put on a similar coat.
“Yes,” Twilight said curtly before stepping back out the door, the humans quickly following. Chris almost stepped on her, he was busy trying to help Eleison fix the zipper she somehow managed to tangle in her shirt.
As the pair stepped back out into the snow the gathered ponies ceased their various conversations to look at them.
“Oh-oooh, I think someone ate too many cupcakes,” Pinkie Pie commented as the two humans walked up to the group.
“It’s a jacket, Pinkie,” Chris retorted, beginning to sound a little irritated.
“Its a little, um... garish,” Rarity said looking at the two overstuffed garments. Chris’ was a bright neon green while Eleison was wearing one covered with bright purple and yellow stripes. The horrible contrast of colors was enough to turn Rarity just the slightest shade of green.
Chris looked down at his jacket and scowled a little at them. “They’re made so that if we pass out in the snow, like that pony Eleison found, someone can find us before we freeze to death. I don't guess very many of you have to worry about things like that since hanging out in a room full of you guys is like swimming through a bowl of confetti.”
“OH! Confetti diving! I haven't done that in forever! Hey Chris, Eleison, you want to come with? Its a ton of fuun~!” Pinkie intoned in a singsong voice as she hopped up and down in excitement.
“Uh, no thanks Pinkie, I would rather just do whatever they-” Chris pointed at the two alicorns watching the situation with humor written on their faces, “-need me to do, so I can go back to my trailer and pretend none of this ever happened for as long as possible.”
“Denial isn't healthy,” Fluttershy said. Oddly, she seemed to be able to talk to the two foreign creatures far easier than most ponies she happened to meet. Twilight chalked it up to her natural affinity for communicating with anything not-a-pony-or-dragon.
Chris just grunted in annoyance, but softened his expression at the pegasus. Twilight had a sneaking suspicion that she might be the only one he could get along with, at least until they could acclimate him to the Equestrian style of life. Eleison, on the other hoof, was having no such trouble. In fact, she was getting along very well. So well that she was already swinging Pinkie around by her hoofs like she and the party mare had been friends forever.
“Not that I mind standing out in the freezing snow-” Chris said with obvious sarcasm, “-but I’d like to get this over with as soon as possible.”
“Our apologies, we didn't mean to keep you waiting,” Celestia said, ever the peacemaker. “Captain?” She said, the inflection of her voice snapping back to formal, prompting Spitfire to trot over and snap to attention in front of her.
“Yes your Highness, what are your orders?” Spitfire executed her role with military precision.
“Please take your team and these guardsponies and alert the standing garrison in Ponyville that our guests will be making an appearance and they are no threat. Afterword, report back to your headquarters and update Canterlot of our status.”
“Yes your Highness, right away.” Spitfire saluted and then motioned for the other guardsponies to follow before taking off and flying toward Ponyville. The Wonderbolts and the rest of the pegasi guards quickly followed suit.
“Shall we walk?” Celestia motioned with her wing towards the town.
“Just as long as you don't try and make us ride in one of those death traps you call a chariot again,” Chris said starting off walking towards the town at a sedate pace.
***
As the odd group crossed into Ponyville proper and began their trek toward city hall it was obvious that Spitfire had done her job well. Many of the townsponies were out on the streets to get a glimpse of the creature they had heard so many rumors about. Their reaction was far less paranoid than had been reported when Zecora first made her appearance and Celestia had a prideful glint in her eye, happy that her subjects had learned an important lesson.
The humans were making an effort to stay alert when faced with so many unfamiliar faces. Chris was obviously nervous and he made a conscious effort to keep his eyes on as much of the crowd as he possibly could. Eleison’s state worried the Princess, she was huddling behind Chris like he was a shield that could protect her from the eyes of the crowd.
Celestia found herself worrying about the humans more and more. Was it really fair for her to expect them to adapt to life in Ponyville so quickly? While Celestia had made sure to cover what few wounds were still visible on her side with her wing, what if her little ponies ever found out Chris had attempted to kill her? Would they care that he had only been trying to defend his home?
Celestia’s thoughts were interrupted as a brown pegasus mare balancing a notepad in front of her own face on the tip of a wing stepped into their path. The mare was scribbling furiously as the group stopped to keep from running her over. Chris and Eleison shuffled, uncomfortable with the encounter.
“Princess Celestia, my name is Shutter Speed, reporter for the Canterlot Times,” the pegasus said around the pencil in her teeth, “Would you like to make any statements on the now confirmed rumors of the new creatures from the Everfree City?” The Princesses looked at each other with surprise, they had expected the media to become involved in this debacle eventually, but neither of them had expected any questions this early into the process. They shared a mental groan before looking back at the brown mare who had taken to skirting around the edge of the group, trying to get a better look at Eleison who kept hiding behind Chris.
“I’m afraid you will have to wait for the press conference tomorrow. The matter at hand must be seen to as quickly as possible,” Luna rattled off like she had practiced the words a million times.
“So you don’t have any comment?” Shutter Speed asked, looking a little dejected.
“Not at the moment, I’m afraid. Farewell,” Celestia replied before leading the group around and away from the media mare.
As the group went out of earshot the mare cracked a smile. “Thank you princess, you just gave me a gold mine,” She said to no one in particular before shooting into the sky and back toward Canterlot.
***
Eleison looked around at the multitude of ponies staring at her and her John, their eyes terrified her. Try as she might to find shelter behind John, there were always more ponies looking at her, analyzing her. She just wanted them to stop staring.
Her memories stolen from the other self screamed in the back of her new skull, screamed for her to beware the ponies that surrounded her. The memories said they would betray her, ridicule her, tear her down and take everything important away from her. Eleison knew that the other self was lying. She had spent enough time with the ponies in person to know that what the other self had seen was not true, ponies were nice and caring. Well, except for the blue one with rainbow hair, she wasn’t nice.
Still, the stares from the mob were starting to get to her, breaking down the walls of calm and rationality she had built within herself. Every few moments an old memory from the other self would pop into her mind, memories of neglect and anger, feelings of resentment toward pony kind as a whole played through her head like a vengence-craving slideshow.
The memories of the other self were growing louder, more vivid, more convincing. If John hadn’t been there she might have taken the images at face value and reacted like the other self would have. She would have struck out at them in anger and fear, but she didn’t need to feel either of those things. Not when John was here. He was familiarity. He was safety.
She was close to John. There wasn’t anything else to need or want in all of Creation... was there?
What did she want? Why would she want anything other than her John?
Of course she wanted to do other things. Sleeping, hanging out with Pinkie, eating food, and getting to feel new things were all things Eleison wanted to do.
...Or were they things her masterpiece wanted? They were all urges that came from her masterpiece and truly only benefitted it and not herself as a whole. The bounds of the flesh that composed her masterpiece had their own constraints and needs just as her true body did. She sometimes forgot the border between them existed.
As the group entered city hall Eleison stole a glance at her John. He was watching the ponies, protecting the both of them from their scrutiny. She felt the blood of her masterpiece rise to its face and recognized the simple feeling of wanting to be closer to him. It was a feeling that came from her masterpiece and not her whole, but Eleison ignored that and allowed her mind to swim in the sensation for just a while. The feelings from her masterpiece were nice.
***
I walked quickly down the corridor the ponies were shepherding me down. Well, as quickly as a could. The stress from being the victim of a staring mob mixed in with the intense cold made my knees so stiff that I was practically goose stepping through the building. I swore at myself for not wearing something thicker than my work jeans in the in the middle of January.
We were climbing up a flight of very wide, very shallow, very thinly stepped stairs when I noticed that Eleison was staring at me. Part of me wondered how she’d managed to keep her footing on these stupid pony stairs without constantly watching her feet, another part of me wondered why she had insisted on clinging to me this whole time, and yet a third part of my head realized that she was blushing at me. That third part almost made me slip.
I’d realized a while ago that she didn’t like being by herself with the ponies, but I figured that was because she was scared of them or of being by herself or something. I hadn’t thought it was something like... well, something like that.
I couldn't believe she was looking like that. I wasn't an idiot, those were the same kind of looks Rachel used to give me when we were dating. I guess I should have been flattered, but the attention only made me feel worse. I mean, I was the reason Eleison had to survive on her own for months. There was even this nagging thought in the back of my head that her... instability might have been my fault. If I’d managed to actually find her earlier I thought that maybe she would still be normal.
I sent up a silent prayer for guidance and mercy for the poor girl. It helped ease my stress, if only a little bit. My hand found its way up to my forehead and I started trying to massage away the rest of my feelings of guilt and sadness as the princesses poked their heads into the mayor’s office to let her know we were here to see her. Of course, being accompanied by royalty, we were shown into the room immediately.
***
Pinkie lagged behind the rest of the group as they walked towards Mayor Mare’s office, eyes fixed intently on the tips of her hooves. She couldn’t stop thinking about her two newest, soon-to-be-but-not-quite-yet friends and how Chris always seemed to be all down in the dumps. While Eleison seemed to be fine, even happy (well, when she wasn't getting all jumpy about the crowds), Chris was just kind of... bleh. He looked at everypony like they he expected them to blow out his birthday candles if he turned around for even a second. Pinkie hadn’t even seen him smile once since they’d found him in his house. Or... had she ever seen him smile?
“Oh!” Pinkie’s head popped upward. She remembered the promise she’d made to herself earlier, her promise to make Chris happy to make up for the whole prison accident.
She would have to make the party for him and Eleison after all the paperwork stuff was done. An extra, extra, extra partytastic party, just for the two of them, with her extra-special quadruple-chocolate and strawberry cake! Then he’d smile for sure!
“Pinkie, are you coming?” Twilight poked her head out of the mayor’s office and gave Pinkie a look. Pinkie Pie, in her quest to devise a plan to relieve Chris is his moodiness, had stopped in the middle of the hallway, right in front of the Mayor’s office.
“Oh yeah, coming!” Pinkie said before shooting into the room and slamming the door behind her.
***
Inside of the small office the rather large group stood around the desk of Mayor Mare with the Princesses at the fore.
“Hello Celestia dear, it’s been too long since you last visited visited. Oh! And if it isn't princess Luna, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Mayor Mare said with a large smile on her face.
“We are glad to meet you once again as well, Mayor Mare, although we wish that, just once, you and I could meet during a time of calm. Heavens know that Nightmare Night and my escape were anything but,” Luna responded as she offered the mayor a polite nod.
“I apologize for my absence Mayor. With current events being what they are, there just hasn't been time,” Celestia answered. “Unfortunately I’m afraid that my sister and I have not come here on a casual visit. We have found ourselves in... a bit of a bind. I was hoping you would be able to help us keep the current situation under control.” Celestia gestured with one of her wings at the two humans standing quietly in the corner of the cramped office.
Mayor Mare lowered her glasses to get a better look at the two odd creatures. The red maned one was looking all around in interest at the various knick knacks that covered her walls, while the brown maned one was just standing there looking morose. After a moment of studying the odd pair she pushed her glasses back up and looked at Celestia oddly. “If you don't mind me asking dear, what exactly are they?”
“They have told us they are called humans,” Luna answered, looking over her shoulder at Chris and Eleison.
“And are they all so similar?” Mayor Mare asked as she passed a critical eye over the two humans. She had never seen two intelligent creatures with such similar color schemes and body frames
“They are the only two we have encountered so far.” Celestia allowed some hint of sadness to show through her expression. “Truthfully, they are quite easy to tell apart, it is just that their clothes are very thick to protect them from the cold and it hides most of their obvious differences.”
“Hm.” Mayor Mare allowed herself another moment of examining the two humans before moving on. She was ultimately prompted forward by a particularly venomous glare from the human with the brown mane. “Well of course I’m willing to help out an old friend, but you're always the pony to give me political advice not the other way around. What could you possibly need my help for?” Mayor Mare looked around the room at the elements of harmony, before narrowing her eyes. “Wait a moment, this isn't another one of their little mishaps is it?” She pointed a hoof at the six girls behind the Princesses. “I’ve lost count of how many times we've been left holding the bag after one of their little escapades.”
“Hey, you got something to say, say it to my face!” Rainbow Dash zoomed over the heads of the ponies in the room to give Mayor Mare the stink eye.
“How about ‘you've caused millions of bits worth of property damage!’ The parasprite incident alone took up almost the entire annual budget!” The tan mare pointed an accusing hoof at Rainbow Dash.
“Mayor, please! This is nothing like that.” Twilight spoke up as Applejack yanked Rainbow Dash back by her tail. “These two are part of the civilization that created the Everfree City. We would just like some resident registration forms for them so we can help along their integration into their new home.” Twilight put on her best smile, trying to drive the point home with some extra positivity. Too bad for Twilight, she looked more like the filly who got caught stealing from a candy jar than a confident salespony.
Mayor Mare looked to the Princesses and was awarded with a regal nod from each. She sat back in her chair. “The Everfree City?” She stared at the clutter of paperwork on her desk, mulling the proposal over. “Certainly, that won't be a problem,” She said after moment. The mayor opened a drawer and quickly pulled out two forms. “I doubt you would have come here for just these, what else can I help you with?”
“We would also like your help in setting up a press conference tomorrow to introduce your new citizens to the rest of the town, the fewer rumors about them the better,” Celestia said.
“Wait a minute, we didn't agree to anything like that!” The browned maned ‘human’ stepped forward wearing what Mayor Mare assumed was an expression of anger on its face.
“Please calm down Chris, this is only to help stem any negative rumors about your arrival. Our little ponies are quite talkative and Ponyville in particular has a vicious rumor mill,” Celestia said, trying to placate the irate human.
“Ugh, fine... but what are you going to tell them? I doubt they would take kindly to me running you over with a piece of construction equipment,” The human now identified as Chris said, crossing his arms over his barrel.
Mayor Mare turned back and narrowed her eyes at the princess. “What exactly is he talking about, Princess?” The Elements, minus Rainbow Dash, put on embarassed expressions and the Princesses both had adopted impassive masks.
“We had an... altercation. Chris was under the impression that we came with an intent to harm to him and took steps to defend himself. I have since assumed responsibility for the incident and we have chosen to put the event behind us,” Celestia explained.
“Hmph. Altercation is right.” Chris snorted before leaning against the wall. At a closer look, the Mayor could still see bandages sticking out from under the concealing garments he wore.
“Are you alright?” Mayor mare asked Celestia, concern obvious in her eyes.
“It would take a lot more than what he managed to throw against us to do any kind of lasting harm.” Celestia smiled to dispel any worry that might have been plaguing her old friend.
“Well, so long as you don't believe they will be any danger, I don't have any objection to them staying in Ponyville.” Mayor Mare pushed the two forms on her desk towards the two humans, followed shortly by her quill and inkwell. “If you two would please just sign your names, I’m sure I can take care of the rest.”
The humans stepped forward. Chris took the pen first, looked at it like she had just randomly handed him a muffin, and then set it back down. Mayor was about to ask if there was anything wrong when he reached into one of the numerous pockets on his attire and pulled out a stubby stick that was blue and silver. He pushed a button on the back and quickly took the object to the paper and signed his name. Nopony could read anything he wrote, but one doesn’t need to be able to read a signature anyway.
After Chris was done the as of yet unnamed human stepped over, picked up the form and looked at it like she was reading. She took the odd writing utensil from the other human, Chris, when it was offered to her and quickly began filling out several of the blank spaces. Eleison paused when she reached the space labeled ‘Special Talent.’ It took several minutes before she quickly scribbled something in the incomprehensible human script and pushed the form back across the desk.
The Princesses and the Elements looked at one another with confused expressions or eyes narrowed in suspicion. Mayor Mare smiled at the girl, not understanding what all the odd looks were about.
“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve been introduced?” Mayor questioned as she pulled the two forms back across the desk.
“My name is Eleison,” The red maned human said with a brilliant smile.
“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Eleison, and you too Chris. Welcome to Ponyville.” The mayor quickly tucked the papers back into her drawer. “I will have the press conference prepared by tomorrow, Princess.”
The Princesses and the Elements whispered loudly to one another. Rainbow Dash was shushed by Applejack. Dash, for her part, huffed, crossed her hooves and pouted. The Mayor could only shoot them a quizzical look.
“Thank you Mayor, and don't look so worried or you'll start to get wrinkles,” Celestia joked as the rest of the group turned to leave the office.
Mayor Mare didn’t miss the abrupt change in Celestia’s tone. “Oh you, I’m not that old yet, unlike you Celly. Fossilized old bat,” The mayor returned half heartedly.
“At least I don't have to die my mane to look more dignified,” Celestia quipped in a whisper as the last of the group filed out of the office.
“Thats confidential, Celly!” The mayor shouted as the door shut behind the retreating form of Celestia.
“Ugh, what a day,” Mayor Mare groaned before sneaking a sip from a special bottle of Apple Family cider she kept in her bottom drawer. “And tomorrow doesn't promise to be any less exciting.” She took another quick sip before shoving the bottle back down into the drawer and stamped her seal of approval on the two resident registration forms.
***
I took a nice, deep breath as we finally worked our way out the the town hall. As spacious as pony buildings are, being crammed into an office with nine of the things can turn a room stuffy real fast. Too bad I didn’t really have a whole lot of personal space outside either. The crowd was still shuffling around awkwardly in the middle of the road and they had all started staring at me as soon as I’d walked out the door. Everywhere I looked there was a bunch of these giant cartoon eyes just looking at me. I hated those stupid, giant pony eyes.
And as luck would have it I was getting those same kind of looks from my escort too. Something about Eleison being able to read the paper had spooked them something fierce. Rainbow Dash had practically jumped down my throat for an explanation before Applejack managed to calm her down. And of course no one except Pink and Fluttershy believed me when I said I didn’t know. Distrustful little bastards. I’d only known her for a week or something and they expected me to know everything about her. For all I knew she was a genius! Or maybe she’d learned from some crazy pony hermit in the woods! Or maybe-
It didn’t matter. Not important.
I rubbed my knees to try and work some feeling back into them. I’d walked right through a snowbank on the side of the road and gotten my jeans covered in slush. I lifted my head and saw that the girls were giving me odd looks, I think I zoned out and missed a turn in the road. Eleison was still clinging to me, looking around like nothing had happened. Poor Fluttershy looked close to tears for some reason, I might have said something out loud that I hadn’t meant to. I just shook it off and started back down the road again, I hadn’t even noticed that we had left the crowd behind.
A kid starting yelling as we got closer to the library. "There you are Twilight! I was looking everywhere for you. Roseluck came by the library to say thanks for making sure Lily got home, but you weren't there and... I..." I looked down and saw a child sized lizard looking up at Eleison and I with wonder shining in its eyes. It looked at us, then to the group of ponies, and then back to us like it couldn't decide what to do before finally just opting to keep staring at Eleison and I. The little lizard seemed to fumble with words for a moment before finally settling on "Woah, you’re tall."
Author’s note: Well here we go yet another chapter of our hero’s adventure in pony land. Fiesta Equestria was totally awesome btw and I hope to see some of you there next year.
Co-Author’s note: Okay, so the general conversation went like this...
*typing*
“Keep it?”
“Keep it.”
“Yay!”
*typing*
“Keep it?”
“Keep it.”
“Ya- Wait, seriously?”
-Admari