Burnt Orange Juice

by Mike the Red

It's a Big, Big World -- Maybe

Twilight's sudden change in attitude towards me was a bit unnerving -- after a bit of bickering back and forth, we came to a mutual understanding. I believe it was because she saw me in the filly's body that she had a tendency to disregard my age somewhat, causing me to occasionally remind her of that fact. She would respond by apologizing to me, then catching herself and rebuking me for reminding her of my age.

"Y'know, Twilight, things would go a lot smoother if you simply loosen up a little -- please forgive my ignorance -- it looks like I'm gonna have to learn everything about being a pony as well as everything about Equestria," I observed.

"It cuts into my studying time -- maybe my earlier idea of having you go to school and having Miss Cheerilee as your teacher was a better one," the librarian grumbled.

"And I already told you that a 50 year old has no place among fillies and colts," I retorted. The words coming out of my mouth in Sweetie Belle's high-pitched voice made her chuckle at the seeming ridiculousness of the situation. "Besides, you requested I teach you what I can of my home world -- perhaps Princess Celestia can send us there or something."

"From what you were telling me earlier about that place, it sounded to me as though you didn't want to go back -- have you changed your mind already?" she asked, flashing me a grin.

"I still wanna explore this world and see everything it has to offer," I replied. "I haven't been here long enough yet to make a decision of that sort -- I haven't even been outside the library yet and you're asking me if I wanna go home -- I'm not ready to go home just yet, Twilight," I answered matter-of-factly.

"As your teacher, I insist you call me Miss Twilight," she opined, fixing me with a firm gaze.

"Yes, Miss Twilight," I responded, rolling my eyes at the irony of a 50 year old calling somepony half his age Miss.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady!" she giggled, fully cognizant of the ludicrous situation. I rolled my eyes at her again.

"Yes, Miss Twilight," I offered half-heartedly as I began trotting towards the door leading outside.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" she asked sternly.

"I wanna go outside and see what's what," I replied. "I think we've spent enough time in the library today and I need to get out and stretch my legs a little."

"You're not going anywhere looking like that," she admonished, glaring at me again.

"Aww, c'mon, Twi, let me do it," I protested, giving her my most petulant look. She giggled at my expression for a moment before she caught herself, mentally rebuking herself for having let me slip up.

"As my student, you are not permitted to call me by my nickname -- only my friends are allowed to call me that, do I make myself clear?" she asked, her words sounding somewhat harsh to my ears, which I lowered involuntarily.

"Yes, Miss Twilight," I replied glumly, eliciting a few more giggles before I turned my head around and glared at the librarian in disapproval. "Must I keep reminding you I'm not the filly you see before you?" I asked as my exasperation wandered into the territory of bewilderment. "And when are you going to let me check out the great outdoors?"

"You have more to learn before we can go outside, Michael -- and before we even get started on that, you're going to have to learn how to trot like a pony and go up and down stairs. I apologize for laughing at you earlier, but I couldn't help myself."

I groaned in disappointment at having to learn how to walk all over again, this time as a pony as opposed to a human. This task proved to be quite time-consuming and it seemed like it took me forever to acclimate myself to climbing and descending the staircase so I could navigate it without too much trouble. After about three hours of practicing, we took a break for dinner. A plate with a dandelion sandwich was placed before me, courtesy of Twilight's levitation. I stared at it disdainfully.

"Don't you like dandelion sandwiches, Sweetie?" asked Twilight as she gauged my reaction. I didn't bother to answer her as I continued to stare at the sandwich as though it were a plate of liver I had cooked -- burnt to a crisp. About a minute of silence ensued before the librarian repeated her question, though worded somewhat differently.

I paused for dramatic effect and pushed the plate away from me with my right fore-hoof, not with enough force to slide it off the table, but with enough so that it rested in the center. "I don't eat dandelions, Twilight," I muttered softly as I returned to my sitting position.

"As my student, you will have to learn the ways of the pony, and that includes your diet as well -- perhaps you might not have noticed this, Michael, but -- you're not exactly slender. That's one difference you have that separates you from the real Sweetie Belle. If you were to meet your doppelganger -- well, in this case, you're the doppelganger -- you're a bit pudgier than her. So -- you can stare at that sandwich all you want, but you're not getting anything else to eat until tomorrow morning."

I groaned and sighed in resignation, using my freshly learned ability to telekinetically slide the plate back over to me, then levitate the sandwich before me. I took a bite out of the sandwich, simply out of frustration before I was rewarded with a rather rich acidic flavor of the dandelion greens and flower. A smile crept across my face as I savored the intensity of the flavor.

"Oh, you like that, huh? I thought you might," the librarian grinned. "When you finish, we have some more studying to do."

"Awww, c'mon, Twi, do I hafta?" I asked, giving her the adorable petulant puppy-dog eyes look again.

"Yes, you hafta," she replied firmly, glaring at me again for having used her nickname. "You don't want me to ground you now, do you?"

I gave her a wide-eyed look of fear. "You -- you -- wouldn't do that, would you?" I asked almost fearfully.

"Try me," she replied curtly.

Comments

[JustFin]

Oha, the Twilight here is getting sliiiightly bossy^^

[venomenlord]

Eeyup

[WorldWalker128]

Out of curiosity, is this a self-insert? You've got Mike in your username as well as the name of the main character, so...

[Pinklestia]

She could at least call her Mike.

[Lunatic God]

Being grounded is the ultimate universal punishment, and Mike is smart not to underestimate its power