CHAPTER THREE
Adjusting
As we entered the dining room, we saw Luna and Celestia both sitting at the large table in the middle. They were talking to each other but looked up as our group came in, though it has to be said that they seemed more interested in seeing Dusk and Worthy. Only once the kissing was over did they finally notice Toby peeking out from behind my legs.
"Oh, my..." Luna said sheepishly. "If I had known there was a child here, I would have shown more rest—" She shook her head and blinked in surprise as she realised something. "Wait a minute... who is this child, and how did he get here?"
"I was just thinking that myself," Celestia added. "It's okay, little one, you have nothing to fear from us."
Toby came out from behind me and approached the table before bowing his head. "Hello, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," he said. "It is nice to meet you both. My name is Toby, and I am here from another Equestria."
Celestia and Luna looked at him blankly before I stepped in and told them what he had told me, and they both seemed genuinely concerned by the time I was finished. Toby sat down at the table, eyeing a bowl of fruit. I nodded my consent, not that he needed it, and he took an apple. While he ate, Celestia and Luna came over and we all got into a huddle.
"Do you think his family are looking for him?" Celestia asked. "If they're anything like the Element Bearers we have in this Equestria, I'd like to think that they are."
"They are looking for him, there is no doubt about it," I replied. "But we don't know how long it's going to take for them to do so. Is there anything we could do from this end?"
Luna sighed. "If only Doctor Sorou wasn't in the middle of a domestic," she grumbled. "All we'd need to do is adjust the settings on his portal and send Toby back to where he belongs."
"Who's Toby?" a voice suddenly asked. I looked to my left and saw that John and Applejack had managed to integrate themselves into the huddle without any of us noticing.
"Damn it, John!" I snapped. "Stop sneaking up on people like that!" He opened his mouth to reply but I interrupted him. "And don't even think about saying that sneaking is what you do for a living, because it's not. You work on an apple farm."
"Point taken," John muttered. "But you still haven't answered my question. Who's Toby?"
I nodded my head towards the boy in question, who had now moved on to what appeared to be his second apple. I guess crossing universes builds up quite an appetite. Upon seeing him, John and Applejack both did a double take.
"Where in tarnation did he come from?" Applejack wondered. "And more to tha point, how are we gonna get him home?"
I briefly explained how Toby arrived in our Equestria but omitted his full backstory, as I felt it would be best to save that until all of our friends were together. Not only that, it would stop me from going crazy as a result of repeatedly telling the story over and over again.
"Oh," was all John could say once I'd finished. "So basically, we've got to keep an eye on him until these alternate versions of the girls come by to pick him up?" I nodded. "Jeez, do you have any idea how long that will take?"
"I don't care how long it takes," I growled. "That kid has been separated from his family, which is heart-wrenching enough without you acting like a complete and total c—"
"Umm, excuse me, Geo?" Toby asked. "I've been thinking, and I have some questions for you... if that's okay."
"We'll talk about this later," I said to John, before detaching myself from the huddle and joining Toby at the table. "Of course you can ask me some questions, Toby! What would you like to know?"
Toby scratched the back of his head nervously. "What's going to happen to me?" he asked hesitantly. "Where will I stay while I wait for my momma and aunties to get here?"
"Hmm," I put a hand to my chin in thought. "I haven't really thought that far ahead, though I for one wouldn't have any problems with you staying here at the castle." I looked at the others. "Unless of course anypony else has any ideas?"
"Toby is welcome to stay at the castle for as long as he needs to," Celestia said. "And you have our word that we will help you in any way we are able to."
Toby seemed content with this, if the small smile that appeared on his face was anything to go by. "Thank you, that's very kind. I have another question... you know how I got to Equestria, but what about you and your friend there?" He pointed at John. "How did you two get here?"
"First of all, my name is John," John explained. "And this is Applejack, but you already knew that. She's my wife, and she is currently pregnant." He beamed from ear to ear as he said this. "Secondly, the story of how Geo and I got here is a long one indeed. Do you really want to hear it?" Toby nodded, and John shrugged in response. "All right then, here it goes. It all started when Geo was on his way home from work..."
***
An hour later, John had finished recounting our respective stories to a fascinated Toby — though he thankfully neglected to mention the more intimate parts of them. Once he was finished, Toby yawned.
"Thank you for telling me your story, John," he said. "But I'm really tired now, so I would like to get some sleep."
"Of course," Twilight replied. "A room has been prepared for you next to Geo and I's. Please, follow us."
Toby stood up and stretched his arms before saying his goodbyes and following Twilight out of the room. I did the same and went after them, and a few minutes later Toby was in the bed with a forlorn expression on his face.
"What's the matter, Toby?" I asked. "... oh, wait, I know. This will be your first night away from your family, won't it?"
Toby nodded. "Momma usually tucks me in at night," he said. "And sometimes she'll sing to me. Being away from her just seems... wrong." He sighed. "But she wouldn't want me to be afraid. I need to be strong and get through this, just like she will be trying."
I smiled at him. "That's great, kid. And remember, if you ever need to talk, Twilight and I are right next door. Get some rest, Toby, for tomorrow will be a busy day."
Toby yawned one last time and drifted off to sleep as I tip-toed out of the room and closed the door softly behind me. And as I got into bed next to Twilight, I knew that we all had to do our best to get the boy home. He belongs in Equestria, yes, just not ours.
And tomorrow, we would work on getting him back to the family who love and care for him more than anything else in the world.
***
"This is taking too long, Twilight!" Fluttershy whimpered. "Surely we would have located Toby by now?" She looked out the window at the night sky and let out a small moan. "Oh, I hate to think that I'm not there to give him a kiss goodnight..."
Twilight looked up from her book, Crossing Universes For Dummies, and sighed. "We are dealing with very advanced magic here, Fluttershy!" she groaned. "We will find Toby, but it will take a lot of time, not to mention a lot of magic."
"Well in that case, why don't you just get another cold?" Rainbow Dash offered. "Then all you've gotta do is sneeze on us and hey presto! We've found Toby!"
"Sneeze on us?" Rarity said, shocked. "Not only does that sound horribly disgusting, there is no guarantee that we'll end up in the same universe as Toby... provided we even get sent to another universe and not just covered in germs." She shuddered.
"Ah reckon Twilight knows what she's doin', Rarity," Applejack rolled her eyes. "Her special talent is magic, after all. Why, Ah bet we'll find Toby in two shakes of a rattlesnake's tail!"
"I sure hope so!" Pinkie Pie bounced on the spot. "Then I can throw our cutie-wutie widdle nephew a super-duper 'Welcome Home From The Other Universe' party!"
"But until then, we have to find him," Twilight snapped. "And in order to do that, I need to concentrate! So please, let me study this book, and then I can get to work on finding a way for us to travel to the same universe as Toby without anything going wrong!"
She buried her face in the book again, oblivious to the shocked looks on her friends faces.
"Sorry, Twilight," Applejack said. "We're just worried is all."
Twilight sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry for snapping at you," she replied. "It's just... it's my fault that he was sent to this other universe in the first place, so you can imagine that I'm keen to find him and make sure he's safe."
Fluttershy rubbed Twilight's back affectionately. "I don't blame you for anything, Twilight," she cooed. "And I'm sure Toby doesn't either. We all have faith in your abilities, and we know that you'll find him. And we also know that we'll help you in any way we can."
Twilight nuzzled Fluttershy's cheek. "Thanks, Fluttershy," she murmured. "Your support means a lot to me."
Fluttershy brought Twilight in for a hug, which was returned. Soon, the other four Element bearers had joined in.
And for a few brief minutes, the book was all but forgotten.
***
Daylight crept slowly into the room, touching the sleeping form of Toby and rousing him gently. He sat up slowly and stretched before his attention was caught by voices filtering in through the door. With his curiosity piqued he got up and went into the bathroom, whereupon he had a quick wash and slowly walked into the corridor. He followed the voices down the hall and into the dining room, where he saw Geo, Twilight, John, Applejack, Celestia and Luna, as well as some other ponies. As his footsteps filled the room, the conversation stopped and several sets of eyes turned to face him. The group all had smiles on their faces, and Toby was warmed by the fact he recognised most of them.
But one mare in particular caught his attention, as did the warm smile she had on her face. By her side stood a unicorn stallion whom Toby did not recognise. He had a brown coat and a black mane and tail. His cutie mark was a needle against a red cross. As Toby approached them, this stallion held out a forehoof.
"Hello, Toby," he said. "My name is Doctor Haywick. As you can see, Geo and the others have been bringing us up to speed with your current situation." He pointed at the mare next to him. "And this is my lovely partner, Flu—"
"Fluttershy?" Toby asked.
"Um, hello, Toby," Fluttershy said timidly. "It's lovely to meet you. Haywick and myself, as well as Rainbow Dash, Spark Plug, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Spike, have been told of your situation. It must be awful being away from your family like this." Toby nodded and Fluttershy brought him in for a hug. "Well don't you worry, little one, because we're going to make it all better. Okay?"
The only response she got was Toby burying his face into her chest fur and sobbing profusely while she tried her best to relax him. After a couple of minutes, he finally broke away from the hug and wiped his eyes.
"I'm sorry for doing that," he said softly. "It's just that... you remind me of my momma. She always hugs me when I feel sad. I miss her so much, all of my family."
With those words he sat down at the table before burying his head in his hands, his little heart no doubt tearing itself in two at the thought of a world without his adoptive family.