The next morning was a rather uneventful one; the pegasi moving the clouds, the trees swaying in the wind, the birds chirping on their trees, and an orange pony running around annoying the locals.
Cadmium awoke as he always did, ridiculously early, at least, that's what his sister thought. She was still curled up in the corner of the bed, looking even smaller wrapped up in a ball of blanket, fast asleep. She loved sleep, and when she was allowed, she didn't usually wake up until a quarter to noon. She was a night owl anyways. She never felt as if she could do what she wanted to get done in the mornings, so instead, she stayed up late at night, doing what she wanted.
Cadmium was perfectly fine with that. He'd let her sleep. He needed to talk to Twilight anyways. If Klover had talked to her first, he knew she'd say something he didn't want her to say. She was always very trusting, and she didn't mind telling people most things. She actually hated that they had lied to Twilight the previous day. She knew that they would need help figuring out what to do, and lying wasn't her preferred way of gaining help and trust.
The once human ponies really didn't know what to do. They just hoped that something would happen so that they could have an adventure, or at least an option to go home if they needed to. Cadmium had never thought about what he would do if he were zoomed to another dimension, let alone Equestria, but Kloverfield was a writer, and most of her recreational writing had to do with inter-dimensional travel. She hadn't considered Equestria somewhere to travel to before, but she did know that it was a rather easy place to assimilate into. From watching the TV show, she knew that ponies were generally friendly, and if their most powerful relics were the Elements of Harmony, it would be easily assumed that the friendly ponies would be welcoming hosts and willing to help them. Kloverfield knew that they didn't have to lie to everypony, and she found amusement in the irony that she didn't mind lying to the Element of Honesty. Among her inter-world writings, she had also learned that she needed to take issues such as being in a form that wasn't their natural form and their being from another world to a pony who could handle it and who wouldn't make things worse or complicated or a pony who wouldn't believe them. Introducing this to AppleJack first was a bad decision, and it was only natural to want to go to the smart pony first anyways.
She was still asleep at this point though, so Cad could tell Twilight whatever he wanted however he saw fit, at least until his older sister decided to remember she was a pony and wake up.
Cadmium rolled out of bed; falling right onto his snout. He moaned and got up. The guest room was a small room with books on the shelves; which he assumed were part of the tree itself. It had a plain door and a window on his side of the bed. Cadmium went over to the window and thought, 'What will I tell Twilight? I know I need to tell her we're humans, but how?' Cadmium looked at his sleeping sister. 'I will try to lead into it slowly. I just hope that she doesn't wake up until later.' Cadmium put a smile on his face and slowly trotted over to the door. He looked at the handle and frowned, 'How am I going to open this door?' Cadmium pushed the door with his right hoof. A small click was heard as the door slowly swung open. 'Well, that was easy.' Cadmium thought while he walked out into the hallway remembering to close the door behind him.
Twilight was sitting at her desk reading. Cadmium chuckled, “Always the reader; aren’t we, Twilight?”
She slightly jumped at the sudden voice. “Good morning, Cad,” Twilight said, sounding out-of-it.
“Good morning, Twilight, what's for breakfast?” Cadmium asked hoping that he could get something to eat before he had to explain everything.
“It's in the kitchen. Here, let me show you,” Twilight got up and motioned for Cadmium to follow her. Cadmium followed Twilight, getting a better look at the library. It was a round room with shelves full of books carved into the walls. There was a table in the middle of the room with a green fern in the shape of a horse head in the middle and books stacked around it. He hadn't known there was a kitchen in the library, but when they came to the alcove clearly visible from the rest of the tree, he wondered why he hadn't seen it before. They walked into the small kitchen and found three plates with a sandwich on each. “Spike, my assistant, made these for us before he went to Canterlot on an errand,” Twilight explained while she picked up her sandwich with her magic.
“What for?” Cadmium asked, trying to pick up his sandwich.
“Just some supplies, he should be back sometime tomorrow, you can meet him then.”
Cadmium looked at Twilight; trying to get the courage to tell her the truth. “Twilight,” Cadmium started as Twilight looked up, “what would you do if, say, you discovered a new species that nopony has ever seen before?”
Twilight looked puzzled, “Well, I would try to study it, why?”
Cadmium looked at his sandwich again, silently wishing he still had hands, “And what if that new species was from another world?”
Twilight narrowed her eyes at Cadmium, “Cadmium, what are you getting at?”
Cadmium looked up at Twilight and gave her a weak smile. “Have you heard of a species known as humans, or scientifically, Homo sapiens?”
Twilight just sat there, staring at Cadmium without blinking. “Are you OK?” Cadmium asked, worried that he had just broke her.
“Um, ya, I'm fine. Humans... humans... I honestly can't say I have,” Twilight pondered as she took another bite of her sandwich.
“What if I told you that my sister and I were human at one point and were somehow transported here to Equestria through some natural or supernatural force?”
Twilight put her sandwich back onto her plate, “Wait, you and your sister aren't ponies? Aren't from Equestria at all?” Cadmium nodded.
They heard a door open from upstairs, and promptly, the little blue and orange pony was peeking over the guard rail. "Hey, Have you told Twilight that we're human yet?" She asked pointedly, making sure that if he hadn't told already, there wouldn't have been anyway to back out. She smiled down at the purple mare. "Good morning, Twilight," she chirped cheerfully. “Sparkle,” she added, remembering that she didn't know the pony long enough to be on single name terms.
“OK, I'm confused. Yesterday, you told me that you were from a nameless town, that you found out about me through a traveler, and you could not use magic. Now, you're telling me that you are humans, whatever those are, and you are not from this planet. And why do I feel fuzzy around you?” Twilight asked.
“I think that is because you're a pony; you're fuzzy,” Cadmium said, getting a hard glare from Twilight. “Twilight, I'm sorry I lied to you. My sister actually wanted to tell the truth from the beginning.”
“Yup!” they heard her call out as she habitually jumped the last stair on her way towards them.
“I just didn't know how you would react to us saying that we are not ponies when we visibly are. I am a nice guy, but we needed a place to sleep and shelter. I thought that you could help us get those. I just didn't know how to bring it up. If you want to kick us out for lying, go ahead, we will willingly leave,” Cadmium said as he walked over to the front door.
A letter materialized over Cadmium and fell on his head. He looked at it as a pinkish purple glow formed around it. Twilight brought it to herself and read the letter. “It's a letter from the Princess, she wants to meet you two. She will send a carriage to pick us up around mid-afternoon,” Twilight looked at them then the letter. As she read the letter, her expression went from one of annoyance to one of shock. “She says that she knows what you are and how you got here. I guess I will teach you after all Cadmium,” Twilight says as she finishes the letter.
“So, you're not kicking us out then, and, yes, you will teach me?” Cadmium asked.
“No, not until further notice, and yes, princess' wishes,” Twilight said, still a little shocked.
“How would she know that we're human?” Cadmium asked, “As far as I know, the only sentient creatures in this world are ponies, griffins, moose, mules, and bison.”
“And just how do you know about this world?” Twilight questioned critically.
“Long story...” was all Cadmium could say before he got interrupted by a series of loud knocks at the door.
“Oh, for the love of, this is a public library, come in!” Twilight snapped at the door, clearly annoyed at the interruption. A grayish pink mare walked in with flat hair and a blank look on her face. Both Cadmium and Kloverfield shrank back, knowing all to well that that was Pinkamena Diane Pie. Twilight noticed them and wondered why they shrank back. “Pinkie, What's wrong?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie just looked at her then frowned, “I don't really want to talk about it,” she frowned before noticing Cadmium huddling in the corner and Kloverfield looking at her strangely.
Pinkie's color flowed right back into her, “Why are you in the corner? I don't think I know either of you, I should know, I know everypony in Ponyville, and I never forget a pony. Are you new to Ponyville? You're new to Ponyville! I'm sure of it!” Pinkie spoke a hundred miles an hour. They both just stared at her, still afraid to talk.
Twilight noticed and interrupted, “So, Pinkie, what was wrong?”
Pinkie looked at Twilight and frowned again, “I still don't want to talk about it.” Pinkie turned back to the two ponies in the corner again, “You can come out, I'm not gonna hurt ya.”
Kloverfield, who has not read that horrible fanfic but has heard of it, was the first to recover. She noticed Cadmium was still staring at Pinkie in horror.
"Sorry, we are new here, and sorry that we're a bit skittish. I'm Kloverfield, and this is my brother, Cadmium Core. We just got here yesterday. It's a pleasure to meet you… Pinkie?" She faked just hearing her name.
"Yup! I'm Pinkie Pie!" the mare squeaked happily.
"It's nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie,"Klover chirped back, grinning at the properly cheerful pink pony in front of her. She looked back at Twilight and stepped aside. "I'm sure you're here though for something so I'll go find something else to do. Nice to meet you again, Pinkie,"she chirped with a nod and trotted back to her brother who seemed to be shaken and nervous. "Cupcakes?" she whispered tauntingly, still not knowing why it was such a terrifying subject, but found it entertaining all the same.
“Why did my first impression of her have to be that? It's one thing seeing her on TV but to see her like that for real, that's a different story,” Cadmium looked at Pinkie talking to Twilight. All he could do was stare, still unsure of the possibility of a possible 'incident' in the basement under Sugarcube Corner.
“I'm gonna throw you both a welcome party. Come to Sugarcube Corner tomorrow and we will have a blast!” Pinkie said as she bounced out the door. Cadmium's eyes twitched at that statement. He was never much of an outgoing kid, nor did he want to go into that sweet shop either.
Twilight was looking worried now, “Cadmium, what's wrong with you?”
Cadmium looked at Twilight trying to regain his composure, “When I saw her in that state, I had a horrible memory. Please don't ask,” was all he could say.
“Um, OK, How 'bout you start explaining things to me. Maybe I could help if I knew more about you as humans,” Twilight pried trying to change the subject.
“It would be easier to explain if we were in our human forms, but we aren’t so I can't help with that,” Cadmium started.
Twilight used her magic and levitate a quill and a pad in front of her to begin taking notes.
“You might as well get comfy, this is going to take a while.”
o.O.o
Cadmium had just finished explaining what humans are. Twilight was staring at Cadmium, awestruck, “Wow, humans are both things to marvel and fear. It sounds like it would be interesting to meet one in human form. But, I do have another question. What do humans eat?”
Cadmium looked at his sister on the floor who only nodded, “Humans, as a species, are omnivores; we eat both plants and animals. There are a select few that think killing animals is bad and only eat plants. We call them vegetarians. Then there are those, like me, who realize that we are consumers, we eat other organisms, so we consume both. Does this make sense?” Cadmium asked Twilight.
She just sat there writing what he had said then looked up, “So, what type of plants do humans eat?” Twilight asked, hoping they could get to a subject more suited to living as a pony in Equestria.
“Humans eat many types of plants; apples, wheat, corn, lettuce, carrots, and many more,”Cadmium said, answering her question. Cadmium's stomach growled, “Um, Twilight?” Cadmium started, “I still have not eaten anything.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, “Your sandwich is still on the table, you can go eat it now.”
Before Cadmium could reach the table, another knock came from the door. Twilight sighed and opened the door. Outside there were two royal guards.
Kloverfield looked up from her place on the floor in front of a few papers with messy inkblots from trying to figure out how to use a quill and in progress sketches of a male and female humans. She had decided that it would be easier to let Cad tell Twilight what he wanted, and she had only chirped in occasionally. She smiled admiringly at the royal guards, before frowning. “Wait, why are there guards here?”she asked, worried.
Twilight looked over. “Princess Celestia wishes to meet with us,” she reminded. “They're here to take us to Canterlot.”
Klover smiled, remembering. “Ah, I forgot.” She stood and picked up her picture with her hoof, then after a moment, she put it in her mouth so she could trot over to Twilight. “Looky,” she said awkwardly, with her picture in her mouth. “Humans,”she mumbled. They were in a slightly anime cartoon style, large heads and large eyes, and the girl was a bit more bodacious, but Klover had honestly tried to make them more proportional than her usual drawings. She had briefly debated drawing naked humans, but she had never drawn naked people before, so instead they wore tank tops and shorts, showing her awkward attempts at limbs and hands and feet.
Twilight's horn glowed as she took the picture, examined it, and rolled it up before placing it into the saddle bags she was already stocking with her notebook and a few books she was planning to use for research, to see if there was anything about humans in Canterlot Archives.
Klover eyed the guards before sighing. She had before decided that the guards were some of her favorite characters, but she now didn't find them particularly interesting. They were stallions, yes, males, but she reminded herself that she just didn't get zoomed across the galaxy to fall for a horse. She quietly promised herself that she would keep her same standards of males as she had kept at home, and that she still didn't need a boyfriend. She found that yes, they were somewhat yummy to look at, but beyond that, they were just muscular male ponies. She didn't need to take a stallion away from some other needy mare. There was already a drastic lacking of stallions in Equestria compared to mares, so a human turned pony didn't need a stallion of her own. She knew that as soon as she got home, she'd have bronies after her if she shared her experience.
She looked over at her brother, awkwardly trying to eat the sandwich on the plate, and she found herself wondering how much more her still growing teenage brother would eat, now that he was a horse. She knew she could easily out eat him when she felt like it, but he ate like he was trying to pack away for winter every time he ate. She perked up. She should have noticed it before, but her teeth were perfect, and her braces were gone. She didn't have to worry about biting into an apple and breaking her brackets off. She was rather curious as to why the only thing that accompanied her to Equestria was her pink glasses, magically fitting to her pony face.
She was broken from her rambling thoughts by Cad's finishing his sandwich and turning to leave. “Off to Canterlot!” she chirped happily. “Off to see the queen!”
Twilight, Cadmium, and the two guards all turned to Kloverfield. Cadmium was the first to correct Kloverfield, cutting Twilight off in the process, “Kloverfield, They are 'princesses', not queens.” Cadmium looked back to Twilight who was giving him a look as if she was saying, 'I wonder how much about our world you truly know.'
Kloverfield shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Pardon the expression. I'm just getting excited. Let's go!”
The group went outside, and Kloverfield was promptly at the front of the chariot by the time the guards had hooked up to the chariot. She loved flying in airplanes, and she knew that this would be much more fun than an airplane. She was oblivious though to Twilight and the guards' wariness of her and her brother. She was often oblivious to a lot of things. It was one of her weaknesses, but she didn't mind.
There wasn't talking as they flew to Canterlot. Cadmium smiled at his sister hanging over the side of the chariot like a puppy hanging out the window of a car.
Canterlot was gorgeous and grand. Kloverfield stared in awe as they came close. She suddenly became nervous. They were meeting Princess Celestia. Her mind started to worry. The chariot landed, and the ponies stepped onto Canterlot.