13 April 2012 - Friday
I pulled Lis into a hug, and she returned it graciously. We sat there for a minute, and she softly cried into my shoulder. Once she had finished, I brought her out to arms length and looked into her eyes. "Feeling better?" She nodded. "Good."
"Could I get some more water?"
"Of course." I got up off of the bed and grabbed her glass. I walked over to the sink in my mini kitchen (a sink, a counter/cabinet, and a mini fridge) and filled her glass. I brought the water back to Lis, and she began to drink. I sat back down next to her, and that's when it hit me. Wait a second. Canterlot? Unicorns? Celestia? Equestria? Ponies! I knew it sounded familiar. Now, I haven't watched My Little Pony in several months. Not since my high school Brony friends last made me. It's not that I didn't like it, I just didn't keep watching after they quit making me. I haven't seen anything about Ponies in almost a year.
"Um, Lis?" She looked up at me. "Did you say Equestria?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I did. Why?"
"So you're saying that you used to be a pony?"
"Yes, a unicorn to be exact."
"Alright. Thanks for the clarification." I sat back down on the bed. I have some serious thinking to do. I also have some research to do. Maybe I can do it after she goes to sleep, so that it doesn't give her an existential crisis. "Um, what happened right before you woke up in my bed?"
She set the glass down on the bedside table, and turned back to face me. "Sure. Um... I was sitting with Fancypants at a café in Canterlot. We were eating lunch." I nodded and motioned for her to continue. "That's really all that happened. One minute, we were eating, the next, I'm here, like this, talking to you."
I nodded. "Is there anything you remember happening beforehand? Like, over the past week?"
She shook her head. "Nothing out of the ordinary, no." I began to ask her something else when her face contorted in confusion. "Actually, there is something. There was a rumor going around that Celestia was going to war against some powerful being. Something about chaos, I think?"
I cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting. Um, did you see anything weird happen with the sky right before you woke up here?"
She looked off to the side, staring at nothing. "Now that you mention it, I do think I remember noticing that the sky turned... pink. I pointed it out to Fancypants, and then I woke up here. Why do you ask?"
"Because right before I found you outside, the sky turned pink, which is why I was outside in the first place."
We both sat in silence for a moment, before I asked "Um, is there anything else that I can help you with?"
She looked back at me. "Actually, I am a little hungry."
I nodded. "Yeah, it is dinner time." It's dinner time? Wow. Time sure flies. "Give me a minute. I'll go see what I have." I got up and walked over to my kitchenette and peered into my mini fridge. "Um, there's some left over salad from yesterday. Or I can microwave some Ramen. I don't usually cook unless I need to stay in the room, so there's not much here. I can go to the store tomorrow to get stuff." I turned back to look at her.
She nodded once. "What is 'Ramen'? And what is 'microwave'?"
"Um, I'm not really sure how to explain it, but a microwave is something that allows me to cook simple things quickly. And Ramen is basically microwavable noodles."
She nodded again. "That sounds fine."
I stood up and reached into the cabinet and pulled out two bowls of Insta-Ramen. "I'll be right back. Don't destroy anything, okay?" I flashed her a grin.
She giggled. "Okay, I'll try."
I walked down the hall into the hall's kitchen area. There was a full stove and two ovens and several pots and pans. But I was here for the two microwaves. The room was empty, so I filled up both of my Ramen bowls with water and put then in the microwaves for the standard three minutes. After standing there for the time required, I opened the microwaves and pulled the Ramen bowls out. After allowing them to cool, I brought them back to the room. I reached for the door, only to remember that I had left my room key inside with my cell phone and wallet. I proceeded to knock on the door with my foot (aka kicking). I stood there for a moment until Lis opened the door.
"Can I help- Oh, Thomas! Why did you knock?"
"I left my key inside. Just so you know, I keep my door locked, so don't leave unless I'm here, okay?" She nodded, and I entered, heading towards the kitchenette. She closed the door as I set the Ramen down and pulled two forks out of the cabinet, placing one in each. I handed one thing of Ramen to her and took the other one over to sit at my computer table. "I really need to get another chair. Maybe I can steal one from the hall common area and no one will notice."
She walked over to the bed and sat down, poking at the Ramen the whole time. "Oh, no, you don't need to steal anything for me!"
I looked up at her. "Did I say that out loud?" She nodded. "Oops. No, it's not just for you. I really do need another chair in general. And if I do get one from the common area, it'll only be temporary. So don't worry."
She looked relieved. "Okay then." She then began to eat her Ramen. I followed suit.
We ate in silence. I finished first, and turned to my computer. She noticed what I was doing and asked "What is that? It has a picture of me on it."
I looked over my shoulder at her, then turned back to where I had pulled the webcam up. "Oh, this is my computer. It can do a lot of stuff. The most useful thing it can do is let people communicate over large distances. This is also where I write most of my stuff. The reason there's a picture of you on it is because I was using it to make sure you were okay while you were unconscious. It shows a live image that is picked up by this camera here." I pointed at the camera.
She cocked her head. "I didn't understand most of that. The only thing I did understand was that you write. What do you write?"
I chuckled. I never realized how hard it would be to explain technology to someone whose never seen it before. "Well, I write fiction stories and post them online." She looked at me confused. "On the internet?" She was still confused. I sighed. "I use my computer," I pointed to my computer, "to let other people look at them from their own computers." She nodded slowly, as if she slightly understood what I was saying. I chuckled again. "Don't worry, I don't really understand it either. Just think about it as magic." She seemed to accept this explanation, and went back to eating. "I'm gonna go get that chair now. Most people left for the weekend, so now would be as good a time as any." I stood up and made my way to the door. "Oops, almost forgot my key again." She giggled, and I picked up my key from the bedside table, then left.
I walked down the hall and into the common area. I looked around and got the best chair I could find that would look like it fit in a dorm. I grabbed it and then brought it back to my room, setting it down outside so that I could unlock the door. I then brought the chair into the room and set it at my work desk. "There we go. One chair."
She smiled at me. "Thanks." She had finished eating and had set the bowl on the counter by the sink. I put my key back on the bedside table and grabbed our Ramen bowls and threw them into the trash can between my two desks. The forks ended up in the sink to be washed later. I then returned to my computer desk. While I had been cleaning house, Lis had made her way to the chair that I just brought in. She shifted herself around a bit before getting settled.
I sat back down in my chair and was about to pull up Google Chrome, when I realized something. I turned towards Lis and said "Ya know, I never asked you if you wanted to stay with me, I just kind of assumed."
She looked at me. "That's okay. I don't really have anywhere else to go, and if you were going to hurt me you could have done it while I was unconscious."
"So, do you want to stay with me?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." She smiled, and I smiled back.
"Well, you need some clothes. I have a friend that I think has about the same build as you, so I'll call her tomorrow and ask her if she can spare and outfit. Then we can go get you some clothes of your own." She nodded hesitantly. "And we'll need to get you familiar with technology so that when people come over they wont think that you're weird." This time she nodded more enthusiastically. "Well then, when do you usually go to bed in Equestria?"
"Um, a few hours after sunset, usually. Why?"
"Just trying to figure out plans for tonight. It's about 6:30 right now, and the sun sets in about an hour. Do you mean, like, two hours, or five hours?"
"Closer to two hours I guess."
"Okay, that gives us about three hours, then. Would you like to get working on the technology now?" She nodded. "Then pull your chair over here." She began bringing the chair with her. "Is that chair comfortable?"
She nodded. "Surprisingly. I thought that it would feel weird sitting like this, but it's not."
I nodded. "Well, that's good. Now, this is a computer, and this thing here is a mouse. You hold it in your hand like so, and move it across the table."
"Oooh, my head hurts." Lis was rubbing her temples.
"Yeah, I guess it is a lot to take in all at once." We had been working for about two hours, and she could navigate the desktop fairly well, and she was beginning to accept how the internet works. A few more of these crash courses and she'll be able to make anyone believe that she had been doing this her whole life, although she'll probably never become truly tech-savvy. "But you're doing well." I sat back in the chair and closed my eyes for a moment. "You rest your eyes, I'm gonna go get us something to drink." She nodded and I stood up. Walking towards my kitchenette, I had a thought. "Do you know what caffeine is?"
She turned her head around to look at me. If I didn't believe her, then I'd think that she couldn't have been a pony this morning. Her movement is just so human! "Um, yeah. It's that stuff in coffee that gives you energy, right?"
"Yeah, do you drink coffee often?"
"No, not really. Why?"
"Because I don't think you'd like this soda. It has a lot of caffeine, and that would probably keep you up pretty late, but it's really good. I'll give you some tomorrow, okay?"
She smiled. "Okay."
I poured her a glass of water, and poured myself a glass of Mountain Dew. "Just so you know, there's some glasses down here in this cabinet. When you're done with it, just put it in the sink." She nodded, and I handed her her glass. I sat back down. "Do you want to keep working?"
She shook her head. "All this... technology has made me tired." She yawned.
I chuckled. "Well then, why don't I show you something." She laid her head down on my shoulder and I felt her nod. I pulled up a Chrome window and pulled up Grooveshark. "I'd like to show you some of my favorite music." She nodded again, but slower. I think she's falling asleep. I pulled up Hotel California by the Eagles. I set that to play, then went to find Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer and Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. As Hotel California began the first verse, I could feel her sleepily moving to the beat. I started to mouth the words, being the music lover that am. By the time we got to the second verse, she had lifted her head up. I looked down at her, and she looked up at me and then back to the computer. She sat like that until the guitar solo when she jumped. She stayed like that until the song faded out. She looked back up at me.
"Do all the songs have words with them?"
"Yeah..." I paused the playlist. "Oh! You must be used to Classical stuff. Yeah, most rock songs have lyrics." She nodded. "Ready for the next one?" She nodded again, and I unpaused it. Livin' on a Prayer began, and this time she seemed more involved. I was still mouthing the words. When the first chorus began, she jumped at the spike in intensity. This one went by more quickly, and Free Bird began.
She looked up at me. "Is this the same group? It's more mellow than the others."
"Well, all three of these are different groups, but yeah this one is calmer." I smirked. "For now."
"What?" Then the first chorus began and realization crossed her face. I chuckled.
We let the song play without anymore words. Once it ended, Lis looked up at me eagerly. "Can we listen to more?"
I chuckled. "Of course. Would you like more of one group, or just the whole genre?"
"I don't care."
"Whole genre it is then." I pulled up the Classic Rock radio station on Grooveshark and let it play.
We sat like that for the rest of the night. I used the other screens to check email and Facebook while she watched the rock titles go by. It was now ten o'clock, and she was asleep on my shoulder. I stopped the music and tried to pick her up without waking her. It didn't work, but I'm not sure she ever fully reached consciousness.
I brought her over to the bed and laid her down. As I pulled the covers over her, she looked up at me and said "I don't want to take your bed away from you."
"No, it's fine."
"Well, where are you going to sleep?"
"I've got an extra blanket over there, I was just gonna curl up in that on the floor."
She sleepily shook her head. "No. I insist that you sleep in your own bed."
"I can't make a lady sleep on the floor."
"Who said anypony had to sleep on the floor?"
I shook my head. Either she's really naive, or completely out of it. I'd hate to take advantage of this situation, but I don't particularly want to sleep on the floor. Fine. I took my shirt off and changed into my pajama pants. I then crawled under the covers and laid down with my back towards her. "Goodnight Lis."
My only answer was a soft snore.