Chapter 09: Departures
~*Erin*~
The front door opened to allow a wobbly-legged Erin to stagger into her home. A nudge with a hind leg closed the door behind her as Erin made her way to the kitchen. With her legs all trembling, it was an easy decision for her to not bother with a glass, instead instead just turning on the faucet and sticking her head under the flow of water with her mouth open as she drank greedily.
Once sated, Erin sat back and ran a foreleg across her wet mouth. That run had been much harder than she’d expected. Not only were her legs sore and her mane and tail a knotted mess, but the dried sweat in her coat was making the hair stick out in crazy spikes and swirls all over her body.
She made her way into the bathroom, turning on the shower and letting the water heat up to lukewarm before hopping in. With a contented sigh, she just stood under the jet of water, letting it sluice over her, tickling the hair on her belly as it ran down towards her hooves.
Thirty minutes later, and after some vigorous scrubbing, Erin stepped out while drying herself with a large white towel. The bottom of her bathtub was dotted with burrs and plant debris that she’d painstakingly pulled out of her coat and tail, minor trophies that she’d acquired during her run through the tall grass and wildflowers on the outskirts of Ponyville.
Erin did her best to ignore her growling stomach as she started grooming herself. She started with her mane and worked along her coat before finally finishing up with her tail, pulling out a few more burrs that she’d missed along the way. When she was finished with the brushing, she opened up her Feathermaster kit in order to attend to her wings.
It was a very different Erin who stepped out of the bathroom almost an hour after she had first gone in. Most of the exhaustion was gone, and her hair was nicely brushed, though still damp. As she made her way to the kitchen in order to finally shut up her complaining stomach, a thought occurred to her.
“Oh, yeah… I was supposed to start bringing Twilight with me on my morning runs.”
She chuckled as she opened the cardboard box that held the rest of the bakery items from her welcome-back party. Back in her old pony body, Twilight had barely been able to keep up with her even when Erin was going slowly. Now, she had to wonder whether or not her unicorn friend would be leaving her in the dust.
As she chewed on a raspberry-filled jelly donut, Erin decided that she could worry about that later. If nothing else, Twilight being in better shape than she was might actually convince the bookish unicorn to get out and exercise more often, which was a win-win as far as Erin was concerned.
Erin considered her plans for the day as she washed down her less-than-healthy breakfast with still more water directly from the sink. More unpacking didn’t seem all that appealing. And, as comfortable as her couch was, she wanted an actual, real bed. And maybe some foods that would be simpler for her to prepare wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Shopping it is, then,” Erin said as she walked back towards the front door. She slipped on her pine green saddlebags with the sunflower clasps and went outside. She decided to leave the cart behind, opting to keep the grocery shopping to the minimum for now, at least until she got better at cooking.
With her legs recovered from her morning run, Erin smiled and broke into an easy trot, heading towards the main market of Ponyville.
~*Spike*~
Spike’s dreams of flying were rudely interrupted by a feeling of minor heartburn and a familiar rumble in his gut. Even being roused out of a deep sleep he knew what to expect and, out of habit, he angled his head upwards just as a massive flame-shrouded belch ripped its way out of his mouth.
Smacking his lips to clear the aftertaste, Spike rolled over and hiked his blanket up around his shoulders. “Letter, Twilight,” he mumbled as he tried to drift off again.
A few seconds passed, and he became vaguely aware that Twilight hadn’t responded. He lifted a groggy head and then spent the next few seconds staring around in blank confusion. He wasn’t in his basket at the foot of Twilight’s bed. He wasn’t even on the main floor. He was, for some unknown reason, laying cocooned in some blankets in the basement.
The previous night came back to him in a sudden rush: he had been watching movies on his tablet, without Twilight’s supervision, and he had really enjoyed himself, though it had taken him a while to get used to the whole “dragons as pets” thing. His only regret was that he hadn’t been able to figure out a way to sneak back up into the kitchen and make popcorn without waking up Twilight in the process.
“Musta fell asleep,” Spike mumbled. The movies had been great, with the second being even better than the first, and the third at least starting out amazing. His memory of the third movie washed out after a little while, and he realized he must have fallen asleep shortly after the movie had started.
Spike yawned hugely and rubbed a hand across his eyes to clear the sleep-crust away as he looked around for his tablet. He finally spotted it lying on the floor next to where he’d spent the night curled up. He picked it up with a grin, deciding that there was no time like the present to finish watching that movie, before Twilight found him and started loading up his days with chores. The screen was dark, so he hit the button on top like Twilight had told him to do.
Nothing happened.
Spike blinked and pushed the button again, this time a little harder. Nothing continued to happen, much to Spike’s growing alarm. He pushed it again and again and, after not getting any response from the tablet, raised it above his head and shook it gently.
It didn’t do any good.
Tears welled up in Spike’s eyes.“Oh no! I broke it!” He tossed aside his blankets and, chubby legs pumping, raced up the stairs while sobs hitched at his lungs. He flung the basement door open and took a deep breath.
“Twi-hi-liiiiiiight!” came the sobbing wail as he ran through the library.
“Spike?”
Spike looked around to see Twilight, looking slightly frazzled herself as she stood by the front door with her saddlebags on.
“Spike! Where have you—” Twilight shook her head and took a few steps towards him. “Never mind! What’s wrong?”
“I broke it!” Spike cried, holding out his precious tablet.
Twilight blinked at it as she picked the tablet up with her magic, frowning for a moment before a look of realization came into her eyes.
“Spike, did you spend the whole night playing with your tablet?”
If he’d been less upset, Spike would have noticed the half-dangerous, half-amused tone of voice that Twilight was directing towards him. As it was, he was too wound up in his personal tragedy to notice.
“Yeah, and then I fell asleep, and when I woke up it wouldn’t turn back on!” All the crying had made Spike’s nose runny, so he rubbed his forearm across his snout and snuffled, not noticing Twilight’s shudder as he did so. Then he flung himself forward and hugged her around one foreleg.
“I bro-ho-hoooke iiiiit!” Spike cried miserably.
“It’s not broken, Spike,” Twilight said as she tried to tug her leg out of his grasp. “It just needs more power. The battery ran out.”
Spike looked up at her, the fires of hope swelling in him. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” Twilight said, finally able to extract her leg from his embrace. She grimaced at a shiny spot on her fur before continuing. “You just need to plug it in for a while and it should be fine.”
Relief washed over him, drowning out every other emotion and bringing out a huge smile on his face. “That’s great!” he said, directing his grin at Twilight.
The look she directed back down at him made his smile falter as the relief started to drain away. It was the perfectly straight mouth, narrow eyes and raised eyebrow that Twilight used whenever she wanted to let him know that he’d gone and messed something up.
“Oh. I, uh… I suppose I’m in trouble?” he asked weakly.
“Hmm…” Twilight considered this for a moment. “Yes and no.”
“Uh…” Spike replied, completely at a loss. Fortunately, Twilight was more than willing to fill him in.
“No, you’re not in trouble for sneaking off and watching movies all night instead of sleeping. I think the worry you went through when you thought you’d broken your tablet is enough punishment for that.” Twilight smiled gently down at him and rubbed his head with a hoof.
Spike breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. Because I thought—”
“However,” Twilight continued, “for disappearing without telling me where you were and making me worry all morning, I think it’s only fair that you get some punishment for that.” She frowned down at him, anguish plain on her features. “I was really worried, Spike! I was about to go out and try to find you!”
“Oh…” Spike looked down at the floor and saw that he was tracing a random doodle on the floor with his toes. “I didn’t think of that. I’m sorry.”
Twilight drew him into a hug. “Apology accepted. And no using your tablet for three days.”
“What?!” Spike tried to squirm his way out of Twilight’s embrace. “Aww, come on, Twilight!”
“Nope, sorry,” Twilight said, hugging him tighter. “Though, with good behavior, I might trim the sentence down to two days.”
“Fine,” Spike grumbled. “Oh! I forgot. You got a letter. That’s what woke me up.”
“Well, you’d better go get it, then, shouldn’t you?” Twilight’s voice was teasing as she released him and ruffled his spines with a hoof once again.
“You got it!”
It only took a minute for Spike to get back down to the basement, pack up the blankets in storage once again, and get back upstairs with the scroll. Twilight took it in her magic and unrolled it, reading it quietly for a minute or so.
“Huh,” she said eventually.
“What’s up?”
“Princess Celestia is asking if I can come to Canterlot today. Apparently, she has something she wants to discuss with me.”
“Oh. Does she say why?”
“It looks like a few things, really,” Twilight said, rolling up the scroll and set it on a nearby shelf. “One is, it looks like she’s going to announce a change to the schedule for the gateway to Earth.”
“You think she’s going to make it happen more often?”
“Probably, judging by the second thing she wanted to talk to me about.”
Spike glanced at the scroll before looking back at Twilight. She seemed both excited and nervous about something. There was probably a word for that, but he was at a loss to think of it.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Well, apparently there’s some sort of cultural exchange program about to start up. Human students are going to come to Equestria for school, and ponies are going to Earth for the same reason.” Twilight grinned awkwardly and shrugged. “The mare that was organizing things can’t see it through, for some reason, so she’s asking if I could help organize the reception and orientation of the students heading to Earth, as well as the humans coming to Equestria.”
Spike considered that for a moment. “Wouldn’t Erin be useful for that?”
“Good point,” Twilight said with a nod and a frown. “I’ll ask the Princess if I can invite her.”
“Is that all?”
“No,” Twilight said, still frowning. “There was something else that she didn’t want to put down in a scroll that she said she wanted to tell me personally.”
Spike snorted. “I’m surprised you’re not out the door already.”
“Don’t be silly, Spike.” Twilight glanced at the clock on a nearby shelf. “The next express train to Canterlot doesn’t arrive for another forty minutes.”
Spike gaped at her. “You seriously have the train timetables memorized?”
“Uh, yeah?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like it’s all of them. Just the ones to and from Canterlot.”
He blinked at her a few times before shrugging. “I honestly have nothing to say to that.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Seriously, though. Would you mind running around and letting the girls know that I may be gone for a couple of days?” She grimaced down at the shiny spot on her leg. “I need to shower really quickly before I head out, so I won’t have time to do it myself.”
“You got it, Twilight!” Spike fired off a salute and charged towards the door. Operation “be on best behavior in order to get the tablet back faster” was off to a running start!
~*Erin*~
There was only one store in town that actually sold beds, and that was Hatrack’s Furniture Warehouse. With their small selection, it hadn’t taken Erin long to decide on which to buy. It was roughly the same size as a full-sized human bed, though slightly shorter.
She also purchased a few small bookshelves, a nightstand, and several other bits and pieces that Erin hadn’t realized she needed, such as a thick, wiry welcome mat for visitors to clean their hooves on before walking into her house. Some accent art had been added to the purchase as well. Amongst the many, many landscape paintings available, there had been two pieces that had taken Erin’s interest. One was a watercolor of Cloudsdale, looking dreamlike and mystical. The other had been a strangely compelling picture of a frozen lake in wintertime, with dead reeds poking up above the snow cover.
The salespony that had helped her, a stallion by the name of Tallymark, had seemed surprised at her interest in those two paintings, particularly the frozen lake. Erin had gotten the impression that the lake painting had been in stock for a while, without anypony showing much interest in it. For some reason, that made her all the more determined to buy it.
With her bit-bag significantly lighter and the delivery arranged for the next day, Erin left Hatrack’s store with a satisfied smile on her face. Being able to spend so much money so freely was still a new experience for her, and there was something deeply satisfying about spending so much and knowing that she still had plenty left.
Erin was still composing a grocery list in her mind when someone came up behind her and tugged on her tail. Her ears flattened instinctively as she rounded on whoever it was that would be rude enough to do that. Her mouth was already open, ready for the scathing reproach that had jumped immediately to mind. When she realized that it was a breathless Spike, her annoyance melted away. The poor little guy looked like he’d been running himself into the ground.
“Spike! Is everything okay?”
The little dragon nodded and held up a claw to indicate the need for a moment to catch his breath as he gasped for air.
“Hey, Erin,” he said, once he’d recovered enough. “Twilight wanted me to let everypony know that she’d be going to Canterlot for a couple of days at least. The Princess wants her for something.”
Erin blinked. “Oh. Okay, thanks! How’s that going?”
“I told Rarity and Pinkie Pie first thing. And, lucky for me, Applejack had her stall set up in the market. I still have to tell Rainbow and Fluttershy, though.” A panicked look came over Spike’s face as he looked at the big clock tower in the middle of town. “Oh, no! The train will be here in another ten minutes! I have to get back before then!”
Erin smiled down at him and ruffled the spines on his head. “If you wanted me to, I’d be happy to tell Rainbow and Fluttershy.”
The look of relief that washed over the dragon’s face made Erin giggle a little. “You’d do that?”
“Sure. It’s not like I’m going to be late for work or anything.” Erin shrugged. “Besides, there’s no way you’d make it to Fluttershy’s and back in ten minutes.”
“I was going to go to Rainbow Dash’s house next, and ask her to fly me out there and back,” Spike said. “But now I don’t have to worry about that! Thanks, Erin!”
“You bet, Spike. Always glad to help!”
Spike started running off before stopping a short distance away. “Oh! I almost forgot. One of the reasons Princess Celestia wanted Twilight to come out was because of some sort of exchange program.”
Erin raised an eyebrow. “Exchange program?”
“Yeah. I guess some colts and fillies are going to Earth, and some human kids are coming to Equestria for school. Anyway, Twilight was going to ask if it was okay with the Princess if she asked you to come out.”
“Wow, a student exchange program? Neat!” Erin grinned. “I’d be happy to help out, if Princess Celestia wants me to.”
“Thanks. I’ll let Twilight know.” Spike started walking quickly away, waving over his shoulder. “Thanks, Erin! Oh, and thanks for the cool tablet thing, too!”
“You got it, Spike!” Erin called back, waving a hoof.
Spike disappeared around a corner at a quick jog. Erin chuckled and shook her head before starting her walk once again. It looked like grocery shopping would have to wait a bit, she decided as she made her way, once again, towards Rainbow Dash’s cloud house.
~*Twilight*~
Twilight Sparkle had showered as fast as was equinely possible, in order to save precious minutes before her trip to Canterlot. She'd even left her mane damp rather than trying to dry it since, even with a drying spell, doing so would still add minutes of time to getting ready. She had packed her saddlebags with crisp efficiency, re-using an old, tried-and-true checklist to make sure that she had everything she could possibly need. Specifically, she had used the Pre-mission, Non-test checklist, which was heavy on preparatory items like scrolls, ink and quills, but light on flashcards and other study aids. She wasn’t going to Canterlot to take a test, after all, but she had to be ready for whatever it was that Celestia wanted her to do.
And now she found herself ready but unable to go, pacing back and forth in the large, central room on the main floor of the library as her tension mounted higher and higher. Every time she changed directions, she would steal a glance at the wall clock, mutter darkly, and then start pacing again.
Her options were limited to only three, from what she could see. One, she could keep waiting for Spike, who may or may not show up on time for them to get to the train. Two, she could go out and find him, which ran a high risk of them missing each other and, thus, the train, which was clearly unacceptable. The third option, which she was most inclined to choose at the moment, was to head to the train station immediately while leaving a note for Spike to follow as soon as he got home.
Upon reflection, option three had some obvious problems. Mainly in that Spike may not see the note, or might not arrive at the station on time if he did. Which would mean that Twilight would still miss the train regardless. The more she considered it, the less viable it seemed. The only time savings would be in the purchasing of the tickets.
While she was considering her options, the clock ticked and sliced off another minute of her day. The low, frustrated growl that started building in her throat cut off as the library door opened and Spike stumbled in. The little dragon stopped in the doorway, bending over with his hands on his knees as he wheezed and tried to catch his breath.
Twilight’s annoyance was immediately swamped by a flood of sympathy. The little guy had obviously been running himself ragged in order to do what she asked. As she watched her number one assistant and best friend struggle for air, guilt also started to make itself known, welling up in her chest and crowding out the last of her frustration. She had given him an impossible task, she realized. Of course he’d have run himself ragged trying to achieve it.
Still, there was a schedule to keep, and the train would be arriving from Canterlot very soon. Twilight cleared her throat.
“Are you okay, Spike?”
“Yeah… just… out of breath.” He straightened with a grunt. “Told everypony but Rainbow and Fluttershy. Erin said she’d take care of it for me.”
“You did a great job, Spike,” Twilight said, making sure she had a smile on her face. Spike beamed back at her as her horn lit up. “I’ll carry you to the station, alright?”
Spike nodded, and Twilight lifted him onto her back. There was only one stop to make on the way to the station. About a block away from the library was a small cottage with a tiny but well-kept garden. Twilight made her way through the gate and knocked on the white-painted door.
It was hard to keep her hoof from tapping as she waited on the front step for the pony inside to answer. In fact, she’d just raised her hoof to knock again when an elderly mare opened the door, blinking in the sunlight and scowling at her.
“Let me guess,” the mare said without preamble. “Princess got you running to Canterlot again?”
“Hi, Mrs. Stacks,” Twilight said. “Yes, I’m afraid so. Could you watch the library again while I’m gone?”
Mrs. Stacks sighed and patted her iron-gray mane, which was already arranged in its standard bun. “How long this time?”
“Hard to say. A few days, at least. I’ll send a letter as soon as I know for sure.”
The old mare hmphed at her and scowled. “You know, I thought when I retired as the town librarian, that would mean that I’d actually get to stay away from the library from time to time.”
Twilight’s grin was both apologetic and a little impatient. The train would be coming soon, after all. “I’m really sorry, Mrs. Stacks. When I get back, I can look into training somepony else to take over as backup, if you like.”
Worry flashed across the old mare’s eyes, and her frown slackened just a little. “No need, no need,” she said quickly, waving a hoof. “Youngsters these days have no appreciation for books, anyway.” She affected the long-suffering sigh that Twilight was almost positive was at least partially an act. “I’ll do it. You’d best be going. You look fit to burst, with the way your hooves are dancing.”
Twilight’s awkward grin morphed into a pleased smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Stacks! I’ll send a letter as soon as I know more!”
“Don’t mention it, dear,” Mrs. Stacks replied.
“Bye!” Twilight said as her horn started glowing. A flash of magic later, and she had teleported half a block closer to the train station.
“Ugh! Warn a guy when you do that, okay?” Spike complained from his perch on her back.
With all the practicing she’d gotten in recently, it was easy for Twilight to forget how disorienting a teleport could be when you weren’t used to them, especially when somepony else was the one controlling the teleport. “Sorry, Spike. I’m just eager to get to the train, is all.”
“It’s not even going to be here for, what… four minutes? Then they have to board everypony, which takes… um… “
“About twenty minutes for the arrivals to disembark and for the departing ponies to get on board. Another ten minutes to pick up any stragglers, and then they’re leaving.”
“So, we have over thirty minutes before the train leaves. Why so panicky?”
Twilight rolled her eyes as she trotted along. Spike should know better than that. “Because anything could go wrong, Spike. Honestly, if we could have been waiting an hour early, I would have been much happier. Besides, what if they leave early?”
“Then they’d get a strongly-worded letter from a certain purple unicorn regarding the importance of keeping to a schedule?” Spike ventured.
Twilight looked back at him and arched an eyebrow. “Schedules are important, Spike. Besides, my coat is lavender.”
“Eh, looks purple to me,” Spike said before yawning. “I’m gonna close my eyes for a minute. Wake me when we get on the train, okay?”
Twilight chuckled. “Sure, Spike.”
The rest of the trip was uneventful, for which Twilight was grateful. Spike had long since adapted to sleeping through nearly anything while on her back, but if he was startled awake, he had an unfortunate habit of deploying his claws and grabbing onto her coat.
The ticket booth had a small line, which was another reason why Twilight had wanted to get here early. She didn’t mind waiting, ordinarily, but she absolutely despised waiting in a line. With the constant shuffling forward, it was impossible to do something even as simple as read a book while waiting for her turn to buy a ticket.
Fortunately, the line moved quickly. Twilight had just bought her ticket and made her way onto the platform when the train slowed to a stop with a screech of metal on metal. Naturally, this woke Spike with a start, and Twilight grimaced and tensed until the baby dragon relaxed enough to pull his needle-sharp claws out of her skin and fall back asleep.
As the porters began unloading passengers and their baggage, Twilight’s eye was drawn to a large peacock feather bobbing over the crowd. Her eyes followed the feather down, which showed that it was attached to a large, stylish hat. Under the hat was a very familiar face, which was also scanning the crowd.
Rarity met Twilight’s eyes, and both ponies broke into large smiles and began trotting towards each other, Rarity leaving her large pile of luggage behind her to be dealt with by several porters.
“Rarity! What are you doing here?”
The other unicorn snickered at that. “It’s nice to see you, too, Twilight.”
Twilight blushed at that. “Well… yeah, sorry. Nice to see you, Rarity. Are you heading to Canterlot, too?”
“Yes, it’s quite the coincidence, isn’t it?” Rarity tossed her head and her elegantly-styled mane bounced and swayed along with the peacock feather in her hat.
Twilight had wondered on more than one occasion what it took for her friend to manage those curls every morning. Rarity, while keen on giving grooming and fashion advice, was strangely reluctant to go into the details of her own beauty routine.
“I’ve been invited, by no less than Fancy Pants himself, to consult on a new line of fashion accessories for ponies heading to Earth.” Rarity’s beaming smile lit up her face as she began hopping in place, the peacock feather bouncing wildly as she did so. “Ooh, it’s just so exciting!”
Twilight blinked, confused. While Rarity consulting on anything fashion-related didn’t seem unusual, the fact that she was being asked for her input on something so specific was a little confusing. Twilight decided to try for some clarification. “Fashion accessories for Earth?”
“Yes, to replace the standard torc that everypony wears now. They’re trying to store magic in everything from earrings to hair clips, tail bows and bracelets. Anything more fashionable and less obtrusive than the torcs which, while lovely, are a bit unwieldy.”
“Oh, I see! And Fancy Pants asked for you, specifically?”
Rarity positively glowed as she nodded. “Oh, yes! It’s wonderful having friends in high places, isn’t it?” Her smile faded slightly. “Oh, but listen to me, going on all this time about me without even asking about you. I understand that the Princess wanted you in Canterlot for a few days?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Twilight replied with a nod. “Didn't Spike mention why?”
“I’m afraid not,” Rarity said with a shake of her head. “The poor dear burst into my boutique while I was in the midst of packing, blurted out his message, and was gone before I could even ask him how his day was.”
Twilight flinched at that, looking guiltily over her shoulder at her assistant, who was still asleep on her back and smiling at whatever dream he was having. The fact that Spike didn't even stay to exchange pleasantries with Rarity, of all ponies, suggested that he’d been in something of a panic trying to follow her instructions.
“Sorry, little guy,” she murmured to the sleeping dragon.
Even though she’d been summoned by Princess Celestia, Twilight determined right then and there that their first stop in Canterlot would be Donut Joe’s donut shop. Spike deserved a treat for all he’d had to put up with today. To go, of course. He could eat on the way to the palace, provided he was careful not to get any crumbs on her coat.
The two of them chatted for a while longer, up until they started boarding the train. Spike woke up on his own at that point, stared at Rarity for a few seconds, then started desperately running his hands over his head to make sure his spines were straight. Twilight giggled, but Rarity politely pretended not to notice.
As the three of them sat together, talking and just enjoying each other’s company, Twilight felt some of the tension she’d been carrying all morning begin to fade. From Spike’s disappearance to the Princess’ letter, she’d been feeling nothing but frazzled and on-edge. But now, with the promise of a swift trip to Canterlot in the company of two good friends, she could finally begin to relax.
~*Erin*~
Erin got back to her house a little after five in the afternoon. Her second round of grocery buying had netted her such staples as sliced bread, jelly, peanut butter, and assorted fruits. In addition, she’d bought a few boxes of dry pasta and some sauces in jars. Hopefully, boiling some water in a pot wouldn't prove too much of a strain on her culinary skills.
She made her way to the bathroom once again in order to touch up her coat, mane and wings, since she didn't want to make a bad first impression on her neighbor. Well, third impression, if she was getting technical, but this would be her first time in Ditzy’s home, and she wanted to be sure she was at her best.
Then there was nothing to do but wait. Erin unplugged her tablet and broke out her hoof-strap and stylus in order to play a few time-wasting games, mostly involving blowing up floating piles of fruit with slingshot-mounted bombs. She’d never really stopped to consider the logic of that, but it was a fun game.
Her tablet’s timer went off five minutes before she was due at Ditzy’s house for dinner. She packed the tablet away, nabbed the box of pastries off of the counter and set it on her back before walking out of her front door.
From the outside, Ditzy’s house looked much like hers: a small, thatch-roofed house with a second floor that was about half the size of the first. The primary difference was that the siding was painted a light pink, with a bright yellow trim.
Erin knocked gently on the door and then spent a busy few seconds running her hooves over Ditzy’s welcome mat, trying to clear any dirt or debris off before her host opened the door. She was still at it when the door was flung open.
“Hello!” Ditzy said cheerfully.
“Hi!” Erin said as she looked up. Then she froze. One of Ditzy’s eyes was looking right at her, but the other one was looking up and to the left. After a moment of staring, Erin forced a smile, desperately hoping that Ditzy hadn't noticed.
It wasn’t meant to be. The pegasus chuckled and pointed a hoof at her right eye. “Oh, this? Sorry, that happens sometimes when I’m tired or distracted. I should have warned you. Some ponies find it a little unnerving. Hold on, I can fix it.”
Ditzy frowned and blinked a few times in rapid succession. All while Erin was babbling, “Oh, no! No, no, it doesn't bother me!”
“Ah, there we go,” Ditzy said, smiling. She looked at Erin, now with both eyes facing in the right direction. “How’s that?”
“Um. Much better?” Erin’s own eyes widened, then. “Not that it was bad before! I mean—”
Ditzy’s joyful laugh cut her off. “Don’t worry about it. I've had this condition my whole life. It doesn't bother me anymore, as long as ponies don’t tease me about it. Come on in!”
Ditzy stepped aside, and Erin began walking through the door. “Who would tease you about that?” she asked, feeling a little disturbed. Ponies always seemed to be so nice. Mean-spirited teasing seemed… wrong, and out of character.
With a shrug, Ditzy just said, “Foals can be cruel, sometimes. Oh, speaking of foals, Dinky is out playing with some friends. She should be home soon.” She pointed a hoof at the box on Erin’s back. “Are those the pastries? I’ll grab them, if that’s okay.”
Erin nodded, and Ditzy took the box in her teeth before planting it on her own back. Then she trotted off towards the kitchen, which Erin noticed was in the same location as her own.
“Make yourself at home! I’m just going to pull the casserole out of the oven and get the salad ready.”
“Okay!” Erin called before looking around.
Now that she’d gotten a closer look, it was obvious that Ditzy’s house was built with the same floorplan as Erin’s. Which likely meant a bathroom, largish bedroom and living room on the first floor, and a smaller bedroom upstairs with its own half-bathroom.
That was where the similarities ended. Erin’s own home was well-maintained but sparse in its decorating and furnishing, largely due to her having just moved in. Ditzy’s home was well-worn and obviously lived-in.
The living area was arranged so that several ponies could all relax and talk together, dominated by a large, somewhat faded and threadbare red couch facing two smaller, matching chairs with a coffee table in the middle. One smaller, non-matching chair was obviously for Ditzy’s daughter Dinky, considering that the small end-table next to it was loaded with coloring books. Next to the books was a green-painted tin can that held a variety of crayons and colored pencils.
Erin wandered through the living room, noticing the rug that covered most of the sitting area. It was a sky-blue, with patterns of fluffy white clouds. It would have been lovely, if it weren’t for the occasional colorful stain, ranging from deep reds to purples to, for some reason, bright green. Erin assumed the redder stains were probably from juice spills but, for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out the bright green one.
The fireplace was almost identical to Erin’s, except for the childlike scrawling and stick-figure ponies on some of the lower bricks. On the mantlepiece were framed photos, mostly showing a lavender unicorn filly with a blond mane mugging at the camera. Erin guessed that this must be Dinky, and also noticed that the filly had a fondness for making silly faces. Out of all the pictures the filly featured in, only three had her smiling normally.
Two of those pictures also had a smiling Ditzy in them, the mother and daughter posing for the camera with Ditzy holding her daughter to her side with a wing. The third featured both Ditzy and Dinky, as well as a third, older mare, which Erin guessed to be Ditzy’s mother, judging by the family resemblance.
There were toys on the floor, Erin noticed, though they were all tucked behind the furniture. Pony ragdolls, balls, blocks and even some jacks, which Erin made sure to steer clear of. She’d stepped on jacks with bare feet before, and she had no intention of repeating the experience with hooves.
There were a lot of blocks, Erin noticed. In the back corner of the room was a carefully-created little town made of wooden blocks in various shapes and sizes, with small wooden pony figures standing in the “streets”. It was rough, and none of the buildings had roofs. Right then, Erin decided to buy a bucket of Legos for the filly, to see if that was something she’d like. It would be something else for Ditzy to avoid stepping on, but if the filly liked building things that much, then Erin was sure she’d appreciate the gift.
Just then, the front door opened. Erin looked up just in time to see the little filly in question walking through the front door. Her heart caught in her throat as she saw who was walking in behind her.
“Mooom!” Dinky called.
“I’m in the kitchen!” came the reply.
“Can I have a friend over for dinner, too? We already checked with her mom and it’s okay.”
“Sure, fine by me as long as you two behave yourselves,” Ditzy called back. “You want to help me set up the table? Your friend can wait in the living room with Erin.”
“Sure!”
Dinky trotted off towards the kitchen. Her guest, a unicorn filly with a golden coat and dark brown mane, looked around uncertainly for a moment before walking into the living room. Erin backed away, trying to get some moisture back into her mouth as her heart began pounding. The movement brought the filly’s light green eyes onto her, which widened in shock.
“Sunflower?” the filly said, the shock plainly evident in her voice.
Erin’s mouth hung open for a few seconds before an involuntary smile started growing.
“Hi, Marigold,” she said weakly.
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The moment Dinky mentioned a friend I was worried...
This can't end well for Sunflower. No matter what, Marigold's mother (who's name I can't remember) will see this as a breech of trust.
Always such a pleasure to randomly update FIMFiction and come across an update you've been looking forward to..
Another excellent chapter.
Cliffhanger, why thou are there?
This will either end in reparations or shouting. Or a massive pile of awkward. Possibly some combination of the three.
EEEEE!!! Marigold! Oh cute little filly I missed you!
I mean I'm sure Erin missed you.
Great
Seems some things were not meant to be. Erin/Sunflower staying away without getting permission seems to be this one.
Compounded because Marigold WILL talk when she gets home.
Awkwardness, an old friend to all, once again you rear your ugly head where it doesn't belong.
On the other side of things.. I am surprised Twilight hasn't tried becoming one of the exchange students already....and that she hasn't learned of the Library of Congress.
Finally, the reconciliation of Erin with Medowlark and Marigold.
I already said so while editing this chapter, but I have to celebrate again how that scene with Spike made me laugh!
4845289
Some of them will happen, some will happen differently, and some that won't fit will be avoided. I'm going to leave it as a surprise which ones will make it in and which ones won't, though. I don't want to spoil anything!
4845893 Twi in the LoC now there's a scene I'd either pay to see or run for my life from when they try to kick her out at closing time, or both.
I can't remember who Marigold is or where she last appeared; can anyone else link the relevant chapter?
4845823 I had the exact same thoughts there.
Le gasp!
4846097 she was the daughter of the mare running the guest house in Sunflower. The one who never forgave Erin for the deception and who told her never to come around her daughter without permission and/or supervision again. Erin had gotten rather attached to her by then.
4845823 Well it's a small town its not like Sunflower can avoid her constantly.
I missed Marigold, but that's going to lead to some drama in the next couple chapters.
My mind overloaded because of the small things you did that made this chapter awesome.
-How Spike acts
-Ditzy's condition
-Dinky's toys
-Marigold
-Twilight's thoughts on Spike
I... My brain just... I heard this sound.
Oh dear
Instead is repeated in the first paragraph
4845823 Yeah, I definitely hear the faint but growing whistle of an incoming drama-bomb....
hi hi
Get out of there Erin. We all know you mean well, but don't put a protective mother to the test. Dinky and Marigold's friendship will suffer for it.
4846097
Marigold is the daughter of Meadowlark, who manages the Ponyville Guest House (Read: Temporary Civic-Funded housing for new arrivals), where Erin stayed in Project: Sunflower. Meadowlark doesn't want Erin anywhere near her daughter after finding out that she was actually an agent from Earth. She felt rather betrayed after that revelation, and got pretty protective of her filly, esp. as that family and Erin had had a pretty close relationship before.
First met Meadowlark.
First met said filly (Marigold).
Wherein we see why she doesn't want Erin near her daughter.
I TRIED to tell everypony last chapter, but hardly anyone paid attention... Le sigh
4846088 I can see it now the security goes through the LoC making sure everybody's out and they come across a book castle with Twilight saying 5 more minutes please?
"As fast as was equinely possible." I must learn to think in this idiom.
Humans in a pony school and ponies in a human school? That would make an awesome side story.
Schedules most certainly are important. Not following them causes confusion and delay, and that would never do.
This reunion is going to be so awkward...
This could be a perfect setup for the painting being some sort of dark magic artifact that will slowly subjugate Erin and force her to do its bidding...
4845999 I look forward to seeing how much your timeline deviates from canon!
, then started desperately running his hands over his head to make sure his SCALES were straight.
4847110 No, he meant spines. The things on top of Spike's head and along his back.
Thanks Hoopy.
The other stories I'm following aren't being updated very often.
Magically charged clothing accessories?
Why does that sound like an accident waiting to happen?
How does that charging work anyway?
Just expose it to Equestria's geomagic field or put it in an
enchanted box of some sort?
"When the ruby is dim-bright-dim the object is charging.
When the emerald glows the charging is complete.
Do not mix artifacts of different thaum ratings when charging."
Adorable and evil cliffhanger, you know that?^^
i have three things to say her. DUN DUN DUUUNNNNN!
Code: Spike's not very good at naming operations.
Oh snap...
Human kids in Equestria? This could be interesting
4846945 Agreed I would like to see something on that. Maybe as a sort of mini chapter?
I can only imagine what Twilight would try to teach that would totally go over the heads of poor human children.
I don't think her mom's permission included close encounters of the Erin kind.
4846953 You're one to talk Celestia, I remember how you were moving the sun in Lesson Zero, just to fuck with Twilight's head. Hilarious by the way
Fruit Ninja meets Angry Birds?
+1 encouragement to keep the story going.
4845789 oh man I really like Alistair Reynolds although i don't know if i've read century rain.
4846953 is that a Thomas the tank engine reference I hear? :p
Yay for ugly paintings! But why would nopony want it?
Keep going! ;)
4848204 seriously. before i got into mlp (and this site five or six days later) I was almost exclusively hooked on science fiction and all things space. Now I am reading so many other things and I feel so much more involved and it makes me happy n stuff.
another nice chapter
4847039 Where exactly is the story currently, canon-timeline-wise? I've never really gotten a handle on that detail.
Hah! Need that third movie, stat!
Yeah, figures it was just out of power, but the glorious melodrama!
Cross cultural contamination is a go!
I have a feeling these pictures are specific pieces of fandom art.
Twilight has checklists for various common checklist needs prepared in advance? I love that idea. And an on-call spare librarian/mentor as well? Also a great idea.
Heh.
I also love the idea that Rarity is locatable by finding the nearest giant hat and looking down.
Dinky loves blocks? That's an interesting detail to include and spend some much time discussing, I wonder if it'll be relevant at some point later on.
Ooooo. You know, I wonder if the best thing Erin could do at this point is politely excuse herself and head home.
I'm not sure I could understand a student exchange below university-level students. The culture shock alone would make it useless to pre-teens(Like for example; would the human kids do like "when in Rome" and copy dress of locals? Hint: Locals don't have much of a dress code at all. Not to mention the local diet when Pinkie Pie is around) and there should be years of study and information exchange before learning anything in a completely foreign culture would actually be a boon to individuals that don't really understand their own culture. Also, is their care entirely in the hands of locals or would they be sending chaperones/soldiers? Will they be in their own forms or would they match the locals for less disturbance?
However, I can understand the cuteness factor that is in play.