The First Day
Stormy Skies awoke the next morning. He laid on his back, blinking rapidly; it felt like he’d slept for days. He smacked his dry lips and shook his groggy head. The pegasus then retracted his wings, one of which was hanging over the edge of his bed, while the other rested against the wall to his right. The curtain behind his head was open; bright light was streaming in despite the sun still being hidden by a nearby building.
“If you want breakfast you may want to get up soonish.” A high pitched voice offered from the opposite bed.
A high-pitched voice? Please Celestia no! Male and female voices were the same pitch between worlds. Stormy turned his head, looking over the little railing that would prevent him from falling off. His pupils contracted as his blood turned cold. It had to be a dream.
Sitting on the bed opposite him was the human he’d left on the bus. She was wearing less clothing and had some sort of white slab held vertically in her lap. But it was her, and she was staring at him.
The pony’s chest constricted even more when the side of her mouth quirked and she spoke, her voice was rather melodious which only made him more uncomfortable. “Never seen an Equestrian before, but I think you have the wrong room. This is a girl’s room, even if you are cute.”
Stormy was embarrassed, feeling blood rush to his cheeks and finally placing the tubes on that first desk as makeup. All the pegasus wanted was to get out of that room. Equestria had equality of the sexes except for all the rulers being female, but there were still boundaries and one of them was staying out of a girls’ dorm.
Stormy stepped over the railing, intended to flutter down to the floor, grab his saddlebags and race out the door. But as he turned over the covers wrapped around his rear legs and he tripped, falling head over hooves until he smacked into the floor. The hit didn’t hurt; pegasi routinely took tougher falls learning how to fly or being zapped by an errant jokester with a storm cloud.
Stormy wrestled his way out of the covers. Once out he picked up his saddlebags in his mouth and stopped dead, wondering what he did to deserve this as a small breeze from the open window ruffled his mane. For right in front of him, just stepping out of the bathroom and blocking his exit was another human. This one had a towel wrapped around her body and another around her head revealing several strands of blonde hair, but she was just as surprised to see the pony as he was to see her.
They stared into each other’s eyes, yellow into blue, scarcely breathing. Stormy’s instincts, his own mind, told him to run, but there was nowhere to go. So he continued to stare at the lady with strawberry blonde hair long enough to reach what should have been her dock. The mustard yellow pegasus took another step over the soft carpet that refused to make a sound as another breeze blew cornflower blue hair into his eyes.
A breeze. Stormy realized, the window was open, he had a way out. The pegasus backed up slowly, then turned and ran straight for the open window. The design was different than what he was used to; instead of being two panes where one slid past the other it opened outward from the bottom.
With a flutter of his wings, Stormy lifted up to the window seal and dove for the window. The saddlebag still in his mouth fit through easily enough, his head was another issue as was his rump; but, with a little effort he slid through and fell towards the ground. The wind rushed through his mane for a second before he reopened his wings and fluttered to a stop.
Stormy looked back up to the window, the sea blue eyes of the second human looked back. He made a b-line for the building where he picked up his key. Despite his pounding heart, the pegasus took a leisurely pace to calm down. He suddenly had a feeling this day wouldn’t be much better.
Stormy got to the office at the bottom of the large building. Lights were on beyond the door with people milling about. Not thinking, Stormy tugged on the door only to have it refuse to move. He gave it a second tug before remembering the temporary key in his bag. Taking the key in his hoof, the pegasus unlocked the door and quickly entered.
The desk to the side was missing, as were the day’s previous helpers. Instead, his only option was the single person behind the counter staring at what seemed to be her lap. The pegasus beat his wings and hovered forward so he could look her in the eyes. Books were lying behind the counter with pages open, pages ruffling as he approached, wings stirring the air.
She looked up; blonde hair falling to her shoulders, her eyelids seemed to narrow over her cool blue eyes but it was hard for the pegasus to tell human emotions. “How can I help you?” She sighed.
Stormy didn’t hear even the slightest amount of care. But that could just be their lack of expression, he thought. Instead he told her his problem. “I seem to have been given the wrong room key,” Hoofing it over. “I woke up this morning to find myself in a girls room.”
Her tongue clicked. With her head down he couldn’t see her eyes or any of the hard to read expressions. She took the key and put it into some sort of machine. “So you aren’t this Sunny Skies then.” Her right hand vigorously rubbed her brow.
“No.” IS the storm cloud on my flank… He stopped. They don’t have cutie marks or the same naming conventions. “My name is Stormy Skies.”
She nodded tightly. “Do you have some sort of ID then?”
The pegasus pulled the ID out of his saddlebags.
“This will just be one moment.” Hovering in place, thankful to get his wings a little exercise.
“Ok. Your card has been reset and your new room number is 904b. It seems that you and her packets were swapped.”
Stormy picked up his new key and put it into his saddlebags, when he looked up the lady was back to her schoolbooks. “Excuse me, where is breakfast at?”
She raised her head slightly, just enough for them to make eye contact, her lower jaw jutting out slightly. “You have a schedule and a map. Use them.” And just like that she went back to her books.
Stormy Skies landed, tucked in his wings and pulled out his schedule.
8:00 a.m. Check – in – Sunset Village Patio
Light breakfast is available
The pegasus pulled out his map. He twisted it around until he found the cardinal directions and his current location. The map was done at a bird’s eye view, the way he was used to following directions. Normally he could just fly around until he saw the buildings. How do I recognize them from the sides? He would have to try and match buildings, without being able to see their full profile.
He started with one building he knew, Reiber. But there were three of them: Reiber Hall, Reiber Vista, and Reiber Terrace where he was staying. But standing between the three it was a mess of walls, not the L-shaped Vista or the distended hammer of Reiber Hall. Stormy looked at the nearest building, Reiber Hall, so he knew two buildings. The Earth was different; making it hard for him to tell which direction was north. But following these directions; past Reiber should be a set of stairs leading to a triangles shaped building called Delta Terrace, further past was a building called Covel, and between the two stood an area called Sunset Village.
Stormy held the map in his mouth in case he got lost and headed off. The pegasus was soon greeted by small declines in the sidewalk and a long three-story staircase. Halfway down there was a balcony filled with iron chairs and tables, walls that went above his head but would be waist height on a human. The pegasus continued down, finishing the last few steps and came to another set of table and chairs with glass walls on either side of him. The walls on the left looking into a little store with clothing and the other side had just some sort of counter and a lot of floor space.
Straight ahead. Straight ahead should be Sunset Village. His stomach was rumbling as he exited the alcove hiding the stairs and glass walls. More table and chairs surrounded a raised planter filled with pink flowering plants, dark green shrubs and tall sprawling trees not suitable for anything but minor shade. Each of the wrought iron table had at least three chairs and a beige colored umbrella. Compared to the rest of what he had seen, this would be a nice place to relax and eat.
To the right was a large dark grey circle of the same material cars drove on with the middle being a patch of green fifteen feet across, tall trees filling the area. The planters continued to the left with spaces for people to walk through spaced out over the next hundred feet.
Behind the tables and chairs stood a bland building. Its height was still impressive at seven-stories, but the design was boring in comparison to the others the young pony had seen. The top six stories were just a wall of small windows surrounded by off-white walls. The windows would be at chest height to any humans in the rooms and only went up two feet. White lines cordoned off each room from the one next to it making the rooms look smaller, at least from the outside, than what Stormy was staying in. The first story reminded Stormy more of Equestrian architecture, while the other floors were over hanging the first by thirty feet with an outdoor stairway leading up into the middle of the second floor.
The building to the left, should be Covel Commons. The side, he could easily view consisted of several towers with the corners looking like tower turrets that got smaller the higher they went and connected by the red brick the pegasus had seen the previous day on other buildings. But even the shorter sections of wall between the towers were connected by the same pattern. The building looked four stories tall as he headed for breakfast.
Across from Covel and connecting to the stairwell he had just left, was a sandstone colored wall with some windows covering what looked like offices. Farther down the wall Stormy saw what looked like a market being set up. There were the standard tables, but the height of a human’s waist still being set up. A long sheet of paper was on the ground, yellow with blue lettering that the pegasus couldn’t read. Two humans, a male and a female, the male handing the other a stack of pink boxes.
Stormy trotted over to the tables. Maybe that’s the check in? He could just catch the tail end of the human’s conversation.
“This should be the last of them.”
“Thanks for the help. I’ll go get the jugs and thermoses.” The guy offered and walked over to Covel.
The woman was short, but seemed like so many of the other humans he saw, slight complexion, short brown hair. She was wearing a yellow shirt with blue letters saying “Welcome Week 2014” and flat shoes with blue pants. She set the pink boxes onto one of the tables next to each other one high.
Stormy walked up behind her, making sure his hooves clopped with each step. Making noise wasn’t hard, it seemed like human materials were made for it. The pegasus didn’t want to sneak up on someone; memories of the previous day flashed through his mind. But the lady was oblivious, moving over to another table to pull it farther from the wall.
“Excuse me,” The pegasus started. “Is this where I’m supposed to check in?”
Despite his best effort, the human jumped at the sudden and unexpected noise, causing the already nervous pegasus to jump back in response.
“You gave me a start. I didn’t hear you come up.” She apologized. “It will be, we’re still setting up though. Check-in isn’t for another hour. What are you doing here so early?”
Stormy Skies stumbled for words; he did not want to tell about his morning. “My plane arrived last night and the person I was staying with suggested I get here early if I wanted breakfast.”
“If you checked in last night, you don’t need to do it again this morning.”
The pegasus could tell she was trying to hold back a laugh, something funny must have happened.
“Tell you what.” She turned away from him and opened up one of the pink boxes. She turned back around and handed him something amazing. A donut. “Take this, and you don’t have to come back until eight forty-five to meet your New Student Advisor and meet with your group.”
Stormy took the proffered baked good. He could feel his mouth watering, saliva trying to escape his mouth. Donuts were common in Equestria, he just rarely had them. Out on weather patrol a donut just couldn’t stack up to a good muffin for filling a hungry pony. But this donut was also something else he rarely had in a donut, it was warm, the sugary glaze sticking to his hoof.
The hungry pony took a bite and savored the doughy goodness. He could feel his wings relax, his stomach stopped rumbling.
“Feel free to come back for more.” She offered as the pegasus made his way to an overhang on Covel.
Stormy settled onto a small concrete bench under the overhang. The bench formed a circle with three breaks in it for people to walk between them and easily big enough for fifteen to sit comfortably.
The concrete under his belly was cool, but nothing compared to a cloud in winter. Pegasi were made for colder weather, although he’d never want to work at making the yearly snowflakes. Stormy had at least another hour before orientation. The people were still setting up. Looking around there wasn’t much to do and no other students were around, not that the lone pegasus would be much good for conversation he suspected. The blue maned pony reluctantly reached into his saddlebags for the only thing at hoof to pass the time, his lone book.
What is wrong with this world? Stormy wondered, staring at the lines of text. The disparity and the glamour. Death and killing as a GAME! It frightened the pony. What kind a creature could find this amusing? Cutting out tongues as punishment, and then forcing the culprit to become a slave? And all this to children?
Stormy was reminded of the story he read in the airport, the murder of two men in this city. The one lady’s story of it being a dangerous area of town. His wings fell open, fluttering against the ground and solid concrete bench. What am I doing here? His eyes welled up as he laid there. Remember the simple job he had back home, reading reports of the desired weather and the effect needed, rolling in rainclouds, creating a gentle breeze. But he was stuck.
“If you have reached an adequate stopping point in your novel.” A voice spoke up. “I believe it’s about time to meet our advisors.”
Stormy looked up to see Edward from the previous day, but with a different book in his hands, “The Inferno”. The human had on a clean blazer and similar enough clothes, the tie red though and the rest of his clothes black.
He would fit in with the upper crust. Stormy realized with more and more clarity. Stormy closed his book from the back so nopony could see what the book was, how could he look anybody in the eye if they knew?
“What are you reading?” The finely dressed human asked politely.
Stormy just grabbed his book and shoved it as quickly as ponily possible into his bag.
The pegasus could barely see Edward shift his weight between his legs, but wouldn’t look the human in the eye as he stood to walk away.
“Now who is the rude one? Is it not polite to answer a friendly question asked of you?”
Stormy stopped dead. What role did politeness play in this world? He sighed. “The Hunger Games.” The pegasus stated flatly.
Stormy looked up to see why the human was so quiet. Edward’s eye weren’t on the book but actually on the pegasus, one side of his mouth lifted into the semblance of a grin. It made the pegasus feel like he was being laughed at.
“Whatever floats your boat.” Edward stated as he went back to his book. “Although an Equestrian reading such a book is quite a shock.”
“I don’t plan on reading any further. It’s horrible.”
Even with Edward’s face hidden by the book, Stormy could see his chest moving in slight laughter. “It probably is darker than you expected but it is not all bad. The story is meant to show the disparities in modern society between different countries and populations as well as the strength of the human spirit. It is quite human, if not my preferred material.” The male folded his book up. “Finish it at least. I am quite sure you would regret not finishing what you started. Maybe it will ‘click’ after you learn more about us.”
Stormy looked over at the human, into his brown eyes, deciding if he was being nice or trying to trick him like that other human with the meat.
“You can decide at a later date. We really need to meet our advisors though. There is no telling how long it will take to find her.”
As they walked off, Stormy had to ask himself, “How does he know the advisor is a she?”
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I have some characters! 5 of them, to be exact. Technia, Radar, Action Sequence, Second Draft, and Quick Dish. You may choose anywhere from 0 to 5 of them. I will also answer any questions about them you may have.
I love your writing style and I hope you continue working on this until it is finished. It reads wonderfully and the pacing is top notch. I hope to see more from you soon. Good luck out there!
3847080
and not sure if there is an ending if I'm honest. There is still a lot of planning required. Does it end when he knows what he wants? When he finishes school? Through job seems a bit much though 
Thank you very much. Not sure if flattery will finish it
Allow the shipping to begin!
I have enjoyed this story very much so far. I always liked these sort of fish out of water stories. I think you have been capturing the culture shock very well.
One small bit of criticism, I thought that the descriptions of the buildings were confusing and overly long.
I have some characters Noctis Umbra (my OC) and Ember Ashes (The Stellar Bat's OC)
I have an OC named Red Tail you can use.
This story is actually good and I do enjoy reading it
3848754
Tou expected something different? 
And thank you 
Actually good?
3848017
I have to agree with you. Here are some images of just Covel Commons: http://www.anes.ucla.edu/newsletter/images/Covel-Commons1a.jpg http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/60375254.jpg https://www.google.com/maps/preview/search/ucla+covel/@34.072618,-118.4502495,383m/data=!3m1!1e3 Unfortunately I couldn't find one of the side view
3848315 3848043 I need a picture of each pony as well as a description of their personality and cutie mark
3847957
Shipping? Whose getting shipped?
3849148
Sorry if my reply actually implied that I expected something different >.<
I really do love this story
no complaints from me 
and you're welcome 
3849148 The link on each name is to a picture of them.
Noctis- personality
Very oblivious to the world outside herself and her freinds, very bright and sweet. Shy around strangers and very energetic around people /ponies she's comfortable with or freinds. Awkward around ponies in genral.
Ember- Personality
Has a VERY large ego and loves flying (even if she isn't very good). Acts really close to Rainbow Dash when around her freinds, but teases a bit more. Very freindly to new people if she trusts them.
Hope this was helpful, message me for more info.
3849355
I like to reply to comments, and do to most of the comments on any story.
I knew, was just having some fun
3849697
Oh, okay
haha 
3849148
The link is his name and he's shy, very intelligent, usually has his face in a book, and has a slight British sounding accent (don't the U.S. star and bars on his flank fool you).
3849148
An interesting structure, very post modern.
This has been a delightful read so far. I sincerely hope that you continue writing this. You have great pacing and a world so detailed that I can almost see it come to life as I read. Stormy Skies is easy to understand and sympathize with.
keep up the good work!
3968686
its called Google Earth. And I think he's easy to understand because so many people have felt overwhelmed at some point.
Thank you. As for the vivid world
3851519
Just looked it up and I guess it is. Explains why its such a pain.
4244584
Not related to any anime. More of a mental binding or manipulation. 
We may have a different usages of the word.
So....... tis is still going, right? This hasn't just dropped dead yet, right?
please?
4752795
Not dead, have 5 chapters done, want to finish a few more before i release them. Ignoring the very hard time I have with editors.
A few things have popped up with life which I may talk about soon that have dramatically slowed my writting.
"walls that went above his head but would be waist height on a human."
So now he's even shorter? Before you said waist height was eye level for him.
(Also my cold cynical heart loosed a chuckle at the gender mixup.)
And getting hit on / something of a relationship with a human would be adorable.
... I mean acceptable. *cough.*
Yours
Triangle
Tables
I hope it doesn't seem like I'm being passive aggressive with these corrections, I actually quite like this story.