17. Journeys
It was still quite dark when Mike awoke. Opening his eyes to the new day, he wondered why he felt so charged up when it was still fully dark out. A glance at his alarm clock showed that it was only 5:47 AM. Mike realized that the sun wouldn't be up for another two or three hours yet.
Oh great! I finally get my vacation days, and my body suddenly decides it doesn't want to sleep in?
Grumbling about the injustice of it all, Mike turned over onto his other side, away from the glow of the alarm clock and played dead, hoping that he would be able to fall back asleep. His hopes were in vain however as various thoughts and ideas began to obtrude upon his consciousness. For the most part, they were thoughts of Twilight.
Fighting his own thoughts like a Sumo wrestler, Mike struggled to subdue and banish them.
Empty my mind... Don't think... Don't think...
…
Twilight leaned against me during the movie. A sudden memory came, of feeling her weight against his side. That was− nice.
What?! No! Stop that! Too late, like a dam bursting, a kaleidoscope of memories swirled through his mind, recalling several other times he had touched or hugged or been hugged by the lavender pony.
Groaning, Mike flipped over onto his back and opened his eyes, staring upwards into the darkness.
Twilight, he sighed; unaware that he had a silly grin on his face.
As Mike lay there he began to catalog what he knew about his alien guest.
So... She's smart, got a really good memory, and loves scientific stuff. Mike appreciated that. It was nice to be able to converse about technical and scientific things with another intelligent... person.
But, she's been so fragile. Her emotions have be yo-yoing up and down and all around. Mike frowned as he considered recent events. But to be fair, she has been under exceptional stress. And when you consider that she thought I wasn't even real- just some creepy shell of a character and not able to support her as a friend? Now that's some real isolation. It's enough to shrivel your soul.
Well that changes right now. In the dark, Mike's face grew determined. I'm going to make sure to remind her that I'm here, and that I'm her friend and that she can count on me.
Charged up and knowing that there was no longer any hope of falling asleep, Mike threw back the covers and leapt out of bed.
It took Mike a few moments to realize that he was standing there poised and ready for action like some sort of comic book hero. Mike let out a snort as he realized he was also posing in his boxer shorts.
I wonder how that happened. He thought in wry amusement. But wow! Do I ever feel good right now. In fact I haven't felt this good in years.
After puzzling over that fact for a few moments Mike came to a realization. This must be from that Earth Pony Massage that Twilight gave me. I'll have to find a really nice way to thank her.
Mike threw on his bathrobe and exited the room, making his way to the bathroom to take care of business and for a quick shower.
As he stepped out into the hallway he noticed a light coming from Twilight's room. Curious, he moved silently down the hall.
Tapping lightly on the door jamb, Mike eased the door open a bit and stuck his head in to see what was keeping Twilight engaged so early in the morning.
What he saw was Twilight sprawled out on top of the covers, asleep with an open book lying across her snout. Mike couldn’t help but smile. It was obvious that she had been reading the book until exhaustion had taken her unawares.
Mike's smile faded as he noticed a shiver race across Twilight's flanks. Turning away from Twilight's room, Mike opened up the linen closet which was adjacent to her door and extracted a spare duvet cover. Walking softly into Twilight's room, Mike paced the duvet over her shivering body.
Next he lifted the book off of Twilight's face and placed it upon the tiny table beside her bed. Mike was about to exit the room when a strange impulse took hold. Without taking the least bit of time to think about what he was doing, Mike suddenly leaned over Twilight's sleeping form, wanting to kiss her on the forehead. Her horn seemed to be in the way however, so he settled for a gentle kiss on the tip of her horn.
Twilight's only reaction was a distinct fore and aft wiggle to her ears and a slight murmur, as though she were trying to say something.
What did I just do? Mike asked himself, confused at his own behavior. Where did that come from? Did I just kiss a pony? Mike stood over Twilight, frozen in astonishment as a whirlwind of confusing thoughts swept through his mind.
No, not a pony; but a rather sweet girl. She happens to look different and is having more than her fair share of trouble. Looking back upon the sleeping Alicorn, Mike smiled again as he turned off the lights and closed her door. “Sweet dreams, Twilight,” Mike whispered.
Once more out in the darkened hallway, illuminated only by a battery powered closet light, Mike blinked in astonishment as he eyed his empty linen closet. For some reason there were no more clean towels. Of a sudden he remembered using most of them to thaw out Twilight several days ago.
Faced with an unanticipated chore, Mike sighed and entered the bathroom. Besides picking up the laundry hamper there was another more urgent reason for why he needed to be in there.
In short order, Mike exited the bathroom carrying the laundry hamper which happened to be overflowing with soiled towels and made his way down to the basement. His shower would have to wait until he did some laundry.
Arriving in the basement, Mike set about charging his washing machine with a load of towels. A measure of detergent and a few button presses later was sufficient to start the wash and free up Mike to consider his next task.
Mike hated getting up early, but on those rare occasions such as this one, where he was up anyway, he had to admit that it felt liberating to get all his chores completed and out of the way at the start of the day. Today however, he felt uncharacteristically charged up and eager to get started on something else.
Mike considered his options. He could make himself breakfast, but no, he wanted to wait for Twilight, so they could enjoy it together.
Heh, she was up half the night reading, it might be a good three or four hours before she's ready to get up. Mike's thoughts toward the sleeping pony where charitable. So perhaps a cup of coffee will hold me until then.
Five minutes later, still in his bathrobe, Mike was seated in front of his computer with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand.
Let's see, I will need to plan out tonight's supper and I want to try a couple of those fancy vegetarian dishes we found on the Web.
Mike soon lost himself to his work, selecting recipes, listing out the steps and ingredients required to prepare them, noting their cooking times and the required oven temperatures. Slowly he began to work out a plan for the day's feast.
Over the next two hours, Mike grew absorbed in his work, planning out two separate feasts, one for Christmas Eve and the other for Christmas day. Even the interruption of putting the first load of laundry into the dryer and starting off a second load of towels in the washer was an inconsequential distraction.
Mike hummed a pleasant Christmas melody as he resumed his planning, having remembered a conversation in which Twilight had expressed an interest in cookies.
It never occurred to Mike to question his motives for putting out so much effort into planning these feasts. It was Christmas Eve after all and wasn't that enough reason to feel excited?
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Twilight was seated on a lone hillock, part of a tiny meadow filled with grass and flowers. She eyed the passing scenery as her small meadow floated through space. Occasionally other meadows would float by, sometimes with one of her friends standing on them.
One such meadow came relatively close, bearing a happy Pinkie hopping around, smelling the meadow flowers before eating them. “Pinkie.” Twilight called out. “I hope to see you at our picnic later today. You'll be there on time won't you?”
“Silly Twilight, the picnic was yesterday.” Pinkie called back. “Since nopony showed up I ate all the cupcakes I brought, no sense in letting them go to waste.”
“What are you two talking about?” demanded Rarity. Her own meadow had been floating past both Twilight and Pinkie. She looked up briefly from her sewing machine. “The picnic is tomorrow, which is a good thing since I couldn't possibly make it today what with all these orders I have to fill.”
“You've got nothing to worry about Rarity. I'll help you with whatever you need.” Replied Spike who sat at Rarity's side, his eyes glazed over while wearing a fatuous expression.
“No it isn't. It's next Monday....” Shouted Rainbow Dash, her voice dropping in pitch as her meadow shot past all the others at high speed. The Doppler Effect distorting her voice as her meadow receded quickly into the distance.
Applejack merely looked sadly upon all her friends who for some reason didn't know the right time even when it bucked them in the face. She of course was right on time and her picnic was just about to start. Applejack's floating meadow sported a lovely apple tree under which she had spread out a red and white checkered blanket.
“I'm so sorry, Twilight.” Fluttershy spoke softly, trying to hide behind her pink locks even as her meadow scooted by overhead, “I wasn't told yet about any picnic. I don't know when it is. I'm so sorry I didn't know.”
Twilight just stood there on her hillock, listening to her friends argue even as they drifted further and further away from her and from each other. Eventually Twilight realized that all her friends were nearly gone from her sight.
“They left me.” She whispered to herself.
“PLEASE COME BACK. EVERYPONY... DON'T LEAVE ME!” She shouted out to her vanishing friends. The sound of a freshening breeze rustling the meadow flowers was her only reply.
Twilight dropped down to the ground and began to weep. Even as she hid her face under her hooves, a bitter swirl of cold air descended upon the meadow, leaving Twilight shivering. The meadow began turning white as it slowly succumbed to the creeping frost moving in from its outer edges.
Shivering and huddled down among the whitening grasses, Twilight barely noticed the sound of hoofsteps approaching. While still weeping piteously to herself she felt a warm shroud being laid over her. Comforting warmth enfolded her, spreading out from her barrel down to her flanks and up through her withers and neck, slowly banishing the freezing cold.
Still weeping for some reason she could no longer remember, Twilight refused to open her eyes. “No, I can't open my eyes, they’ll see me!” Though who it was she was hiding from escaped her.
Twilight continued to huddle under the safety of her blanket when unexpectedly there came a sensation like a surge of warmth and affection through her horn.
Suddenly Twilight was a foal again. After falling asleep while studying, Shining would always pick her up and carry her to her room. As he picked her up, she'd be groggily half awake, but mostly not, and after tucking her into her bed, Shining would kiss her horn. Just like now. It was the best feeling in the world.
“Big Brother?” She murmured from beneath her concealing shroud.
“Sweet Dreams, Twilight.” Spoke a voice out of the enfolding darkness. Somehow she knew that voice but couldn't quite remember who it belonged to...
Mike? Are you my Big Brother? Twilight wondered briefly. No matter. She was warm and loved. Everything was alright because she knew she wasn't alone anymore.
After that, Twilight's dreams did indeed become sweet.
---------------------
The dim morning light was beginning to seep through the window when Twilight woke up from an enjoyable dream. She had been lying down on cool green grass, basking under a warm sun while having an enjoyable picnic with all her friends.
Instead of immediately rising to the new day, Twilight just lay there peacefully for a moment with her eyes closed, immersing herself in the memory of her last dream; enjoying pleasant reminiscences of her friends.
Fluttershy, as Twilight recalled, had been telling everypony about a cute little fox kit that had become lost in the forest, coming into her care until his parents could be found.
Before that Rarity had been gushing on about Sapphire Shores' latest visit to her boutique and the order she had made.
Pinkie was out of it, wearing a vacuous drooling grin on her face after having described what the Cakes were designing for the next National Dessert Competition. Occasionally she would mumble something about frosting.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack were there also, sprawled across the picnic blanket, huffing and grunting, taunting each other as they hoof wrestled. Though there did not seem to be any reason as to why they were hoof wrestling.
And Mike was seated right beside her, a comforting arm laid over her withers and around her opposite shoulder as he chatted amiably with Spike, discussing cookie recipes.
Wait?! Mike?! What's he doing in my dream?! Twilight shot up in sudden alarm, barely noticing the blanket that went flying.
Having caught herself from that brief start, Twilight reconsidered her thoughts. Well, what's wrong with seeing Mike in my dream? Twilight took herself to task.
It was a perfectly lovely picnic and all my friends were there. So I suppose seeing Mike in my dream means that I consider him to be a friend as well; Somepony, ah− somebody who I'd be happy to introduce to the rest of my friends.
A memory of Mike's arm across her body flashed through her mind, causing Twilight's internal monologue to halt abruptly. She could feel her face heating up.
Several seconds passed as Twilight struggled to come to grips with that memory. Even her thoughts could find no voice to utter themselves. Finally the dam burst. Alright! I admit it! I liked it when he held me like that. Twilight's face glowed brighter now even as a smile began to take hold.
His touch felt... good. Soft and firm and very comforting, she remembered. Twilight's head bowed down in embarrassment as she worked her way through these feelings. Touching and nuzzling were actions usually reserved for more intimate friendships.
Another memory came, one of her nuzzling Mike's face as he lay on the floor – wracked with pain. It suddenly put everything into perspective. I think that's what the dream means. Mike's not just a friend. He's a close friend. Though I barely know him, Mike's become as true a friend as Spike and the girls are.
As if that realization were a trigger, another memory of what she had written in her letter to Princess Celestia the previous evening came to mind. She had called Mike her true friend in that letter.
This in turn brought back recollections of what she had discovered about Mike and about this universe she found herself in.
Suddenly Twilight felt an excitement building within her. There were so many things to do and see and read. A world lay before her to investigate. New spells waited patiently for her to craft them.
She needed to begin her search for a way home. That was something to organize! Her excitement began to rise exponentially.
And she had a new friend who would help her in her impossible task. Twilight's excitement broke all boundaries and now filled her entire being. Bouncing on the bed Twilight shouted out an exuberant “Yes!”
“Ye-e-es!” She repeated for good measure.
Suddenly aware that she was bouncing on the bed and screaming her head off, Twilight caught herself in mid-bounce. Her face was flushed with embarrassment; though her ears were still fully perked forward as she lowered her head and whispered to herself in a soft voice “YES.”
Jumping down from the bed, Twilight levitated her notepad and pen and began working on a schedule for the day. No, that's too ambitious; I don't have enough information right now. Perhaps a Task-List will do for now.
Twilight flipped to a new page and began writing down her first task.
'INVESTIGATE ARRIVAL'
Twilight's stomach chose that moment to growl. Guess I was wrong. Twilight giggled as she scribbled in a new first task. Finding Mike and having breakfast is my first task.
As she turning her attention to the bed – to make the sheets – Twilight's jaw dropped in astonishment. She could see that, apart from being slightly mussed and having a pillow out of place, the bed appeared not to have been slept in. Looking about for an explanation, she saw a large, thick and very rumpled blanket hanging precariously off the end of the bed. I'm almost certain that that blanket wasn't here when I entered the room last night. Where did it come from?
Twilight lit up her horn, briefly invoking a memory-recall spell. It allowed her recall her memory of a given time with perfect clarity. Sure enough, that blanket had not been present when she had entered the room the previous evening. Mike must have come in to check up on me. He saw that I had fallen asleep and threw a blanket over me.
That was very thoughtful of him. She observed, a smile encroaching on her face. Her horn lit up as she simultaneously fluffed the pillow, smoothed the bedsheets and folded away the extra blanket.
Twilight hurried through her morning routine, eager to find Mike and start the day and begin her investigation. She soon found herself downstairs, looking about for Mike.
A quick look into the kitchen the living room and even the dining room failed to reveal Mike. Maybe he's still asleep. I have no reason to assume that he stayed awake after throwing that blanket over me. With that thought Twilight made her way upstairs again and checked Mike's bedroom.
Well− he was here. Came her exasperated thought, as she observed the rumpled and thrown back blankets and sheets on Mike's bed.
Mike is a slob. Twilight's eyes narrowed in annoyance, as she used her magic to re-make Mike's bed. Still, it made her happy to return a small favor to her host.
Having accomplished her small deed, Twilight was again left with the question of Mike's whereabouts. Now where could he be? She pondered as she came down the stairs for the second time that morning. I don't think he would go outside without his coat. It's still hanging on its hook beside the door.
Twilight found herself standing by the foot of the stairs as she silently pondered Mike's disappearance. It was at that moment a soft sound intruded onto her senses, a sort of rhythmic thumping.
Thump. It went. Thump, Thump. Puzzled at first at what she was hearing, Twilight soon realized that she was hearing some kind of music. It was coming from the basement.
“Of course! He's in his office.” Twilight exclaimed as she rapidly made her way down.
Gently pushing open the door to the office, Twilight was greeted by the rich sounds of a lovely song. Something about it made her pause to simply listen. Even though she could not understand a single word that was sung, the emotions came through to her with a startling brilliance. It was a song of yearning and soaring hope, of gentleness and tender love.
All too soon the song came to an end, leaving Twilight with a warm mix of feelings. Before she could recover and announce her arrival to Mike, another song started playing.
Different from the first song, this one began with a rich orchestral sound incorporating a strong slow beat. Soon a strong voice, clearly female, began to sing.
Who can say where
the road goes,
where the day flows,
only time?
And who can say if
your love grows,
as your heart chose,
only time?
Twilight was transfixed by the beautiful melody. Together with the lyrics, which were now quite comprehensible, the song seemed to caress her heart and enfold her with a sense of peace.
Who knows? Only Time.
...
As the song drew to a close Twilight let out a breath of air, as if she were letting go of all her worries. Though it had obviously been another song about love, what Twilight took away from it was the feeling that everything would eventually work itself out, and after the stress of the last two days that feeling meant a great deal to her.
The next song began its prelude as Twilight silently moved up to a position right beside Mike and sat down on the carpeted floor. As she looked up at Mike, she saw that he was leaning back in his chair and had his eyes closed, unaware of her presence.
Twilight held her peace, interested in following Mike as he proceeded on his musical journey. It gave her an opportunity to closely observe her new friend in his natural state.
The music picked up from what had sounded like random orchestral ramblings and began a sharp though distant sounding beat. Twilight nearly jumped off the floor as the beat escalated to a heavy thumping sound – which soon swelled to nearly a full orchestral accompaniment.
After several repetitions of the heavy beat, it faded back and clear tenor voice began to sing.
She calls out to the man on the street
“Sir, can you help me?”
“It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
is there somewhere you can tell me?”
He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her.
Twilight was beginning to enjoy the song until the words of the third and following lines hit her like a hoof-smack from Applejack. What is this song saying?! She wondered incredulously. The 'man' in the song is ignoring somepony in need... How could he be so uncaring, so... unfriendly.
Twilight's mental rant was brought up short as Mike began to sing, joining what was presumably the chorus.
Oh, think twice, 'cause it's just another day for you and me in paradise.
His eyes still closed, Mike's head began bobbing and his arms began to wave in synchrony with the melodic beat. Though amused by Mike's antics, Twilight was still upset with the song’s lyrics.
It took another set of verses before she began to realize that the true meaning behind the words was a call to 'think twice' about such heartless and un-friendly behavior.
Think about it.
…
Even as the song ended, Twilight was left wondering. Is this common behavior among these humans? Do they really need such a song to remind them to care for each other?
It was at this moment that Mike chose to open his eyes. Catching sight of Twilight out of the corner of his eye he jerked up in his chair and turned toward her. At the same time he reached over to his mouse and did something with his computer, silencing the music.
“Twilight! I didn't see you come in.” Though at first he called out happily, Mike's face abruptly took on a light flush. “Ahh, how long have you been sitting there?” he asked cautiously.
Twilight grinned back at Mike. “Long enough – maestro.”
“You saw that huh?” Mike replied sheepishly while anxiously rubbing a hand along the back of his head.
“Oh don't worry, Mike. It was fun watching you enjoying yourself. To tell the truth I kind of lose myself to the dancing whenever I'm at any of Pinkie's parties.”
“So you didn't think I was weird?”
“Weird? Of course you’re weird. You’re a pinky-beige colored bipedal alien wearing some sort of robe that looks like it was made out of a towel.” Mike blinked in astonishment at those words, glancing down at his robe. But before he could formulate any reply, Twilight spoke again. “But you're also my friend, and I don't know what would have become of me without you.”
Getting up off the floor, Twilight took the few steps required to approach Mike. She brought her head over the side of the chair and briefly nuzzled Mike's upper arm. Looking up into his face she said, “You're more than a friend to me, Mike, you're a close friend. I just realized that this morning.”
Mike appeared to be stunned for a moment before breaking into a wide smile. “Thanks. I think that you've become a close friend to me as well.” Mike extended his arm out past the chair and stroked her mane down the side of her neck. It was a different sensation for Twilight, but she didn't mind. For some reason Mike stroked her mane several more times. Twilight did nothing to stop it.
As if to cut their bonding moment short, Twilight's stomach suddenly emitted a loud grumble. Before she could react to her uncouth gut, Mike's stomach grumbled in mock reply.
“Hear that Twilight?” Mike grinned. “We really are friends; our stomachs are already in sync. Heh, heh.” Mike laughed at his own joke. “Let’s get us some breakfast.”
As Mike was getting up from his chair, Twilight was reminded of something which had piqued her curiosity. “Seriously,” she asked, “why does your robe look like it was made from towels?”
“It's a really cheap bathrobe.” Mike groused.
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Twilight's fork raised the last bite of pancakes to her mouth. She savored the taste. Mmm, I love that Maple Syrup. I wonder if it’s even possible to get tired of it. She idly mused.
Mike rose from the table, still clothed in his bathrobe, rubbing a hand against his face. “Well, I'm off. I need a shower and a shave before I'm presentable.”
Twilight also climbed down from her chair. “What do you mean presentable?” She asked. “We're only going out to find my arrival site and do some investigations.” During breakfast Twilight had laid out her plans. Mike's enthusiastic offer of assistance had made her quite happy.
Oh no. Twilight exclaimed internally as a sudden thought struck her. “Did you have any special plans for today Mike?”
“Yes I do.” Mike smiled. “I have a friend who's staying over for the holidays. And since this is Christmas Eve I thought I'd honor the day by trying to cook up a special meal, possibly even a feast. It's traditional you know.”
I forgot. We are in the middle of his special holiday period. Twilight was embarrassed. Does this mean he won't help me investigate today? That thought left Twilight feeling sad. “So what exactly are your plans? You will be helping me with my investigation, won't you?”
“Oh, there's no doubt that I will be there for you, Twilight. But if we plan on getting back before it starts to get too dark, say about four PM, that should give me enough time to prepare dinner.”
Twilight considered Mike's plans. They dovetailed with hers quite nicely. “I think that will work out.” Twilight realized that there was something else she wanted to add. “If you don't mind, could I help you out with preparing the dinner?”
Mike smiled. “I'd be delighted. It is Christmas after all, and helping and sharing are a part of it.” Mike glanced upwards, at something on the wall above their heads, “Wow, its quarter after nine already, I'd better get going.”
Confused, Twilight looked up to where Mike had looked. There's a clock up there? How come I never noticed that before? Maybe because it's so impossibly thin ─ Twilight did a double-take, realizing she hadn't responded to Mike's last statement. Quickly trotting over to the stairs she caught a glimpse of Mike's cheap robe disappearing behind the upper baluster. “THANKS MIKE!” She called out in a loud voice.
“NO PROBLEM.” Mike called back, followed by the sound of the bathroom door closing.
Twilight entered the Living Room. Seating herself on the couch she began amending her task-list, adding to it Mike's information concerning the time of sunset and their planned evening activities. Next she went back to the beginning of the list.
BREAKFAST received a check-mark.
INVESTIGATE ARRIVAL SITE received some additional thought. Exactly what would she be investigating; something magical or something physical? Perhaps both. I need to ask Mike if he can help out with any physical investigation.
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Coming out of his room, Mike felt like a million bucks. Still energized, despite having awakened so early, the effect was only enhanced by an invigorating shower and close shave. Add to that a clean change of clothes, and Mike was raring to go.
Man. I feel great. Mike tried to analyze whatever it was that he was feeling. I'm not feeling hyper or anything like that. In fact I feel perfectly normal. It's just that I feel so ─ so ready!
Yeah. I'm ready to go. Mike concluded with a smile. Let's see what the day holds for us. Time to see Twilight and help her with her investigation.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs Mike spied Twilight lounging on the couch. His lips curled up in a tiny smile. Twilight's posture had a lot in common with that of a dog or cat, and she looked so cute. He couldn't help but take a moment to observe her.
Taking her gaze off of the notepad levitating in front of her she turned towards him. “Mike, I'm not sure what we may find at my arrival site. I can handle the magical part, but I have no equipment for conducting a physical investigation should that be necessary. Could you help me with that part of it?”
Mike shifted his attention from the pony on his couch to consider her request. “A physical investigation? I'm not sure what that would invol−” Mike's voice faded for a second but then returned with strength. “No. Scratch that. I think I know exactly what to do.”
“Well that's good to hear. Would you mind telling me what you have planned?”
“A few years ago a friend of mine who happens to be a Police Officer−”
“A Po-Leece officer? Like the ones you warned me about yesterday?” Twilight sounded worried.
“Yes exactly. They're not bad people you know, they're just obligated to intervene if they encounter any societal disruptions. And when such disruptions have already occurred, their mandate includes performing an investigation.” Mike paused to allow Twilight an opportunity to comment, but she kept silent. Mike continued. “As I was saying, my friend was bemoaning the amount of time he had to spend investigating a certain automotive accident.”
“Automotive accident?” Twilight inquired, her ears tipping back slightly.
“Yes, when vehicles, such as cars or trucks suffer high speed collisions. They can get quite−” Mike hesitated, “violent.”
“Oh.” Twilight's ears pinned back all the way. She was probably trying to imagine how violent 'violent' could actually be, and not liking whatever she came up with.
Mike cleared his throat to get her attention. “From what he described, such investigations involve incredibly detailed observations of the accident site. He would take copious photographs. Survey the accident site in order to make detailed identification, measurement, mapping and logging of every single piece of debris, skid-mark and pothole. Plus a whole lot more details about the road itself and all extant conditions at the time of the accident, plus collecting eyewitness accounts from all possible observers.”
“Wow!” Twilight gaped. “That's impressive. I wouldn't think so much detail would be required for an accident, even if somepony got hurt.”
Mike flashed Twilight a false grin. “It's because of our legal system and our Insurance Companies. They fight intense legal battles to shift or deflect blame for the accident. The insurance company of whichever individual is forced to accept the blame must pay out the claims.”
Twilight had a blank look. “I don't understand.”
“If the defending Insurance Company can show the investigation was flawed or incomplete in some tiny detail then they can argue that evidence exonerating their client of any blame was missed by the investigation.”
“I don't follow. I would assume that the Police officers were properly trained and would not miss anything important. How could the omission of some trivial detail amount to exoneration?”
Mike sighed, “Whoever loses the legal battle now has the option of suing the Police for damages resulting from their negligence. Needless to say, that officer’s superiors take a dim view of such outcomes.”
“So that's why the Police officer's investigation needs to be so thorough.” Twilight commented. She brightened considerably. “Well I can certainly approve of being thorough. I always took my assignments from Princess Celestia with the utmost seriousness.”
She's missing the point. Mike reflected ruefully. But the fact that our legal system is a mess isn't really her problem.
“Rest assured Mike, I'm taking this investigation seriously. So, why are we discussing your Police and their investigations, however thorough they may be?”
Suddenly Mike felt exposed, as if the current conversation was his fault. Well, perhaps he did have some part in that. Focus, Mike. You want to help Twilight.
Mike caught a moment to gather his thoughts by clearing his throat. “The reason I brought up Police investigative procedures is because I thought I could emulate them. First you take lots of photographs to capture the overall scene and relative placement of everything and then you follow up by measuring, bagging and tagging everything you find at the scene.” Mike finished proudly.
Did I start talking like a CSI? Mike felt slightly embarrassed. I've been watching too many cop shows.
Twilight's ears perked up again. “I'm not sure what you mean by bagging and tagging, but the photographs and measurements aren't a bad idea at all. I like it.”
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Mike exited the house after Twilight, turning to close the door.
Mike made quite a sight. Fully prepared for a lengthy stay in the wintry outdoors he had on pair of black ski pants underneath his navy ski jacket. Perched upon his head was a red and white maple-leaf toque (very Canadian) and upon his feet a heavy pair of olive colored winter boots that had yellow trim. Completing his un-complimentary ensemble was a strap running diagonally across his torso, supporting a dark green camera tote down by his waist.
In hand, Mike gripped a dark gray backpack. Neatly collapsed and webbed to its top was Mike’s camera tripod. Protruding from a side pocket of said backpack was a large stainless-steel thermos. Strapped in on the other side − a small hatchet. A pocket above that held a GPS. A pair of insulated work gloves, colored a bright 'safety yellow’ dangled below, held fast by a quick release hook. Hidden within the bulging knapsacks interior was an assortment of items such as fresh notepads, pens, pencils, two types of tape measure, a box of freezer bags, a utility knife, a small blanket and most important of all – a second thermos and enough sandwiches for a small picnic.
Mike hadn't noticed any complaints from Twilight as he took the time to assemble the contents of his backpack. Since it was towards the investigation it was all good. But now that they were finally on the move she seemed to have acquired a measure of impatience. “Come on, Mike, It's well past ten. We have to find my arrival site.”
“Why the sudden urgency, Twilight?”
“You yourself reminded me how short the days are. I just hope that we have some time for a reasonable investigation before we are forced to return.” Twilight's ears pinned themselves back as she wore a pained expression. “Trust me, Mike, you don't want to walk on the ice in the dark. Walking on it in the daylight will be bad enough.”
She plans to walk all the way? Was Mike's surprised thought. “Why don't you fly?”
Twilight dipped her head apologetically. “Well, I could fly, but that would leave you behind. And I'm no Rainbow Dash to try hovering all the way while you’re walking, that would be really exhausting. So I guess we're both walking.” Twilight turned her head to look at the back fields where a faint series of snow-filled divots led away towards the distant tree line of the forest.
Mike grinned. “Don't worry, Twilight. I won't be walking either.”
“What do you mean you won't be walking? You certainly can't fly...” Twilight's voice faded abruptly as her ears twitched upright and her tail flicked.
“I won't be walking because I plan to be riding my Snowmobile.” Mike approached his garage and entered through the side door. Dropping his backpack just inside the door, Mike only needed a few steps to reach the main door. One mighty heave later and it was open, allowing the overcast daylight to suffuse the interior of the garage. Twilight trotted in front of the opening and glanced curiously at the interior.
The building was in essence, a double garage with extended length vehicle bays. At present Mike's truck occupied one side while his Snowmobile, occupied the other side, hidden under a dusty tarp. Approaching the snow vehicle, Mike grabbed the front edge of the tarp and whipped it off.
“Is that it? Your snow-mo-beel?” Twilight asked, cautiously sounding out the word. “I'm surprised I never took notice of it before. What exactly does it do? Wait. You said you would be riding it, so it has to be some sort of vehicle.” Twilight moved up to inspect it closely.
“That's exactly right, Twilight.” Mike stated while busy hooking a pair of elastic tie down straps over his backpack, securing it to the machine's cargo rack.
Seating himself on the machine, Mike called out a warning to Twilight. “Watch yourself, I'm going to start it up now and it's a little loud.”
“WAIT!” Twilight exclaimed, interrupting Mike's plans. “You’re not wearing a helmet!”
My helmet! I forgot about it. Mike chastised himself.
“Uh, thanks, Twilight. But how did you even know that I should be wearing one?” he asked as he climbed off the machine, walking towards the back of his garage.
“I read the Warning labels printed on the machine. I'm not sure you should be riding this thing, Mike. There are an awful lot of warnings−” Twilight closed her eyes, tucked her tail and pinned her ears back. “S-some of them even warn of injury or death.” Her voice quavered.
Returning with his helmet Mike realized that Twilight was fearful for his safety, and if the truth were told, he had been quite lax about it himself. Mike sat down sideways on the Snowmobile's seat, allowing his body to face towards Twilight. “You’re right, Twilight. I know all of those warnings and procedures; I've studied them and even memorized them. But I've never ridden this machine before and I guess in all my excitement at finally getting to do that, I forgot about the most important thing, my own safety. Thanks for reminding me.”
“I'm happy to have helped. But maybe you shouldn't be riding this machine.”
“I have to disagree with you on that one, Twilight. Yes these machines can be dangerous, but when operated carefully and in a responsible manner they are quite safe and reliable.”
“Hey, I have an idea, why don't we go through the Warning labels together to see if everything is in proper order and all conditions met for my ride.”
Twilight's eyes lit up, her ears perked and her tail gave an eager swish. “A Checklist!” She called out eagerly. “I'll make a Startup-checklist for you right now.” With that her pen and notepad appeared out of nowhere, as far as Mike could tell, and she began eagerly transforming the various decals posted on the Snowmobile into a checklist.
Within five minutes she was done, presenting the completed list to Mike for his perusal. Now that's impressive. Mike admitted to himself. It took me two days to memorize these details but in a mere handful of minutes she's managed to create a checklist from only one reading.
Mike handed the list back to Twilight. “It looks really good. Could you help me out by reading off the checklist, to make sure I do everything properly?”
Twilight gave Mike a happy smile. “Of course, Mike. Reading off checklists is something I'm very familiar with.”
---------------------
Twilight winged her way through the sky, tracking the faint trace left in the ice by her own hoofprints of two days past. Mike raced along behind, following her on his Snowmobile.
Mike opened up the throttle on his Snowmobile nearly as wide as it could go, slowly catching up to the lavender Alicorn. Mike didn't know if she was flying at her fastest, but it was fast enough – and it was glorious. He had loved watching Twilight fly previously, but now – with her marvelous wings propelling her through the air and her mane and tail streaming behind her, she was a beautiful sight to behold.
Speeding along over the smooth ice and snow − okay, maybe it wasn't quite so smooth, but he didn't care − gave Mike the sensation of flying right along with Twilight. It was radical, it was fun and it was beyond exhilarating.
“Woooooo~hoooooooo!” Mike screamed his head off within the confines of his helmet. Twilight's head turned a fraction to the side, as if she were looking back at him. Did she hear me? He wondered. Nah, between this helmet and the engine noise that's highly unlikely.
In all too short a time, less than a minute in fact, they had traversed the full length of the back fields and now approached the tree line. Twilight's wings changed their motion, suddenly making great sweeps from back to fore, reducing her forward velocity to almost nothing as she let herself drop gently towards the ice covered ground. From what Mike could see, she was almost level, but her rear hooves would contact the ground before her front hooves did.
Just as Mike pulled in his snowmobile up to a stop, a gust of wind caught Twilight, rolling her to the left and tilting her body with respect to the ground, causing her left rear hoof to make first contact with the ice-capped snow. Unprepared to support herself on a single leg on such a slippery surface, Twilight's hind legs immediately went out from under her.
“Eeaagh!” She screamed as her dropping hindquarters threw out her front legs as well.
Mike turned off his Snowmobile and cautiously made his way over the slippery ice towards the fallen pony. Twilight lay motionless on the ice, her wings spread out like some fallen bird. Her head and neck, motionless, lay stretched out between her forelegs while her eyes remained closed. Disturbingly her hindquarters were rotated at an angle from the orientation of her barrel; both her hind legs appearing on her right side.
Oh no! Was Mike's worried thought. “Twilight! Are you alright?”
“I'm fine.” Twilight replied from where she lay on the ground, to Mike’s great relief.
“Does anything hurt?” He asked, still concerned that she may have injured herself.
Abruptly Twilight opened her eyes and raised her head, turning to look at Mike. “Only my pride.” she admitted with her ears drooped down, a quirky smile hovering about her muzzle. Mike couldn't help but give a laugh at Twilight's comment. That joke was a classic and apparently had seen use by both their cultures.
Twilight proceeded to straighten herself out and climb shakily up onto her hooves. “See, I'm fine.” She gave him a sheepish grin.
“Glad to see you’re okay, Twilight.”
Twilight turned towards the forest. Mike followed her gaze only to observe what could be described as a scene of carnage. Broken limbs had fallen with abandon along the whole length of the forest edge. They lay about so thick that an entry route was not readily apparent.
Mike shuddered at the sight of one tree located directly in front of them. It was a singularly large tree, but had broken at a point halfway up the trunk where a massive branch, at least 30 centimeters in diameter, joined the main trunk. Mike lifted his arm and pointed it out, “I'll bet you're glad you weren't here when that thing came down.”
“Actually, I was here when the tree-limb came down.” Twilight's calm reply surprised him. “I had just exited the tree line and was standing maybe ten pony-lengths beyond it when the tree broke.” Twilight looked about carefully, searching for signs of her earlier passage. “I think− Yes, if you look carefully you can see some of my hoofprints at the edge of those fallen branches, leading towards the tree. I think I passed right under it just a few moments before it broke and the branch fell down.”
Dear God. Mike prayed. I'm glad you were looking out for her that night. She could have died right there.
“That's incredible.” he commented. “I'm glad you weren't hurt.”
“Me too.” she agreed succinctly.
At that moment the sun broke through the clouds for the first time in several days. Immediately the ice shrouded trees began to sparkle. No, under the full brightness of the winter sun, the trees shone with an outstanding brilliance! Millions of blinding flashes of light twinkled and sparkled as the wind gently moved the ice laden branches about. For that brief moment, Mike beheld the forest edge as a gleaming wall of glittering glory.
Standing as close as he was, Mike could hear Twilight breath a sharp intake of air. “It's beautiful.” she murmured. Silently, Mike agreed with her.
They stood there for several moments, awestruck by the sight before them until the sun faded behind a cloud. Released from their momentary rapture, Twilight and Mike looked towards each other, as if seeking some assurance it had not been a dream, that someone else had witnessed the same vision, confirming it to be true. Slowly, both of them broke out their smiles.
“We saw that, right?” Twilight managed to speak first.
“Yes we did.” Mike replied. “I think I'll remember this moment for as long as I live.”
“So will I, Mike. It's hard to believe that something so deadly, that freezing rain that nearly killed me, could leave behind such incredible beauty. Even the widespread destruction it caused is something I find to be quite awesome.”
Hoping for a repeat of the experience, Mike cast a quick glance upwards, observing the overcast sky. Here and there in the distance he could see a few breaks in the clouds. Let's hope we get some more sunshine like that today. I'd love to take a─
“Shoot! I forgot to take a photo!” Mike palmed a fist in frustration.
“Maybe later, Mike.” Twilight consoled him. “Right now we need to get going. And I don't think I'll be able to fly in that forest.” Turning back to the forest, Twilight cocked an ear towards him. “Are you able to ride your snow machine in there?”
“Maybe.” Mike answered “But I'd rather not try. There's a good chance it would get trapped by the close growing trees or caught in some hidden terrain feature. No, it looks as if I'm walking from here.” Upon hearing this, Twilight gave a nod of her head and began walking cautiously towards the forest.
Putting action to his words, Mike made his way back to his Snowmobile. After removing his backpack from the cargo rack he tried to put it on. Immediately he noticed the hip strap would not close. “What the...” Mike muttered to himself, looking down at the harness. Shoot! I forgot to let out the straps for my winter clothes!
It only took Mike a moment to make the appropriate adjustments and re-don his backpack. After completing the task of fitting it properly Mike looked up. Twilight was nowhere to be found.
Mike felt a pang in his chest. Did she go on ahead without me? I thought we were friends.
▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄
“... No, it looks as if I'm walking from here.” Twilight heard Mike state his intentions. Good. Twilight nodded her head and began approaching the thick brush which made an impenetrable tangle at the forest's verge.
That snow machine of his makes too much noise and no matter what Mike says− Twilight stole a glance back at Mike who had just returned to said machine and was beginning to free his backpack. I still think it's dangerous. At least now, we'll be able to talk while we're walking.
Upon reaching the area underneath the tree canopy, Twilight could feel the snow change underneath her hooves. The upper branches must have sheltered the snow from the worst effects of the freezing rain. Her analytic mind observed.
At first glance, an impassable thicket lay before her. But, upon closer examination there were numerous openings around and underneath the tangles of bush. Twilight frowned. Strange, I don't remember encountering all these bushes the first time I was here. The bushes represented a minor mystery. Eager to solve it, Twilight worked her way between several ranks of bushes. Her passage was made difficult as the bushes and saplings were all twisted and bent over from the weight of ice upon them.
Once past the new growth Twilight searched for the spoor of her previous passage. Looking along her old trail she could see that the undergrowth was much diminished underneath a certain large tree. The very tree she had passed under prior to its collapse. Well that solves that mystery.
“Twilight! Where are you?” Mike shouted from somewhere on the other side of the debris from the fallen tree branch.
“I'm right here, Mike, inside the forest. I'm just checking out the broken tree from the other side.”
“Um. Please don't go anywhere else. I'm coming to join you.”
Twilight waited patiently as Mike made his way into the forest. At first she could hear his footsteps pacing back and forth somewhere outside. This went on for over a minute. Eventually she started hearing muted crackling noises and various mutters from Mike as he began to make his way through the bush.
At one point Mike let out a short scream, “Ahh!” accompanied by a heavy crunching noise and the tinkle of falling chunks of ice. Twilight waited anxiously, worried for Mike, until the silence was once more broken by the sound of muttering and grumbling as well as a resumption of the crackling noises. Twilight raised her hoof to her muzzle, suppressing a sudden urge to laugh. Poor Mike. She thought somewhat guiltily. Stuff like that happens to me often enough. I shouldn't laugh.
Eventually Mike’s the tall bi-pedal figure could be seen emerging from the undergrowth. He was nowhere near where Twilight had come through. “Twilight?” Mike called out.
“Over here Mike!” She waved a foreleg at him.
Twilight observed him carefully as he approached. He did not appear to be injured but she decided to make sure. “Are you okay Mike? It sounded as if you were having quite the experience while making your way through the bush.”
From his expression, Twilight thought Mike was irritated. “I saw your tracks, Twilight, where you entered the bush. But unlike you I couldn't easily slip under and around all those tangled branches.”
Twilight frowned upon hearing Mike's comment. It wasn't that easy for me to get through either but I have to admit I never gave a thought as to how Mike would manage it. She owed Mike an apology, especially for laughing at him earlier. Though he doesn't need to know about that.
“I'm sorry, Mike. I totally overlooked your special needs. I assure you I won’t let it happen again.”
Mike's head jerked back and for an instant he gave Twilight a strange look. But it passed almost as quickly as it came. “No need to apologize, it is what it is and can’t be changed.”
Now Twilight was curious, she needed to know the details on how he had made his way through bush. So she could plan for it in any future endeavors of course. “So how did you manage to get through the bushes?”
“I couldn't go under it, so I was forced to go over it. As you know, the branches were all covered in ice, which is why they were all bent low and entangled with the other bushes. This made them very slippery. Sometimes, when I stepped on them, the ice would crack away and they sprang up like little whips.” Mike reflexively rubbed his face, which Twilight now saw sported several faint red lines that hadn't been there earlier.
“My turn for a question. Why did you leave so suddenly, leaving me alone out there?”
Embarrassed, Twilight kicked at the snow by her hooves, “I suddenly realized that I hadn't run into any of this dense brush and undergrowth the night I arrived. I guess I got caught up in my search for an answer.”
Twilight pointed a foreleg towards the broken and fallen tree. “As you can see, there was very little growth beneath that tree before it collapsed. Somehow I just got incredibly lucky and wandered into the only existing break there seems to have been in this forest.” Twilight stared pensively at the obstructed exit. “You know Mike? Considering the condition I was in that night had I run into these bushes, not knowing where I was or how extensive they were, I would have turned around and kept on wandering this forest until I collapsed. I should have died out here but for this one tree which I somehow stumbled across and which held the way open just long enough for me to escape.
Mike stared at the blocked opening for a moment before turning back towards Twilight. “Don’t think about that, Twilight. It's too depressing.” Mike squatted down on one knee beside her. “I feel like giving you a hug. May I?”
Without even pausing to think, she answered his question. “Yes please.”
Twilight's eyes expanded suddenly, shocked by her own words. Too late! Suddenly Mike's long arms caught her, folding around her withers and shoulders, pulling her close to his body. Her head came over his shoulder nearly causing her face to impact some metal contraption he had placed across the top of his backpack. His heavy clothing and the numerous straps and belts which crisscrossed his torso also made the hug a less than pleasurable experience.
But despite the physical discomfort, Twilight's heart felt light. Mike's hug showed that he truly cared. The feeling of warmth and concern she now received lifted her out of the mire of black thoughts which had occupied her mere moments before.
The hug felt wonderful, and so did Mike's concern. But all too soon the physical sensations began to dominate. Reluctantly Twilight pushed Mike away. “Thanks, Mike. I really appreciated that. But next time, could you maybe take off your backpack? Those straps and buckles were digging into me.”
---------------------
“Are there any dangerous animals in this forest?” Twilight asked as they followed her old trail back to its source.
“Dangerous animals? Hmm.” Mike fell silent. Presumably he was thinking about his reply.
“I don't think there's anything more dangerous than Skunks or Foxes in these woods. But we're too big for the Foxes and the Skunks aren't interested in us either.
“There is however a possibility that these woods are in the territory of some Coywolf.”
“A C-Coy-wolf?” Twilight stammered. “Is that anything like a Timberwolf?”
“Sort of.” Mike replied. “There is a population of wolves a good distance north of here, in Algonquin Park, but this area is no longer part of their range. But even so, they very rarely bother humans.
“Those Wolves however have cross-bred with Coyotes. And we now have a new hybrid species of animal called the Coywolf that's been displacing the Coyotes from their habitat.”
Twilight could feel her tension increasing. “I've encountered Timberwolves before, so I know what they're like. But I've not heard of a Coy-Oh-Ti before. So I have no idea what to expect from this Coy-wolf creature.”
“A Coyote is a member of the Canid family, like dogs and wolves. It’s a wild animal, about the size of a dog. A solitary hunter, it’s known for its cleverness and adaptability. You’re a bit larger than a Coyote so it would avoid you..
“The Coywolf however is larger than a Coyote, sometimes approaching the size of a wolf. But its behavior is mostly that of the Coyote. Like the Coyote, it’s a solitary hunter but has also been known to run in packs. I haven’t heard mention of any in our area, so I shouldn't think we’ll be bothered.”
“So– we won't be attacked by a pack of these Coy-wolf things?”
“Probably not. The weather has been mostly mild up until this point.” Mike assured her, considerably lightening her mood. “But it might not be a bad idea to keep an eye out for anything trying to sneak up on us.” And now she felt nervous again.
“How do you know so much about these Coy-wolves? Have you encountered them before?”
“No I haven't. But I watched a documentary about them on TV.” Twilight had nothing to say to that.
They walked in silence for a short while until Mike spoke up again. “I have a question for you, Twilight, one that's been at the back of my mind for a while.”
“Well, let me hear it and I'll see if I can answer it.”
“Twilight, how is it that you speak perfect English? Your English is perfect, barring of course a few hippocentric pronouns that surprisingly, I still find easy to comprehend.”
Twilight looked up at Mike, somewhat confused by his question. “What do you mean? I've been speaking Equish all along. Not this Ing-lish as you called it.”
Mike stopped walking causing Twilight to do so as well. “Twilight,” he responded patiently, “among humans, language is an enormous barrier. Where tribes of humans are separated by time and a little distance they invariably develop separate and distinct languages. For example−
“Parlez-vous Français ? Je serais surpris si vous pouviez.”
Twilight felt a deep surprise at hearing Mike’s words. That was Prench, I think.
Before she could respond, Mike spoke again. “Ви говорите по-українськи? Я впевнений, що ви не знаєте це.”
Again Mike had surprised Twilight. “The first one was Prench, I think, but I can't quite place the second one. It does however remind me of a pony from Stalliongrad I once knew.”
Now it was Mike's turn to be surprised. “You astonish me, Twilight. I introduce two other languages and you identify them as having a pony equivalent. This only deepens the mystery.”
“Well, your knowledge of two other languages is certainly impressive but I fail to see how that makes a mystery?”
“But that's exactly my point. Do you speak French, Twilight? Did you understand what I said?”
“Well, no.” Twilight grew embarrassed that she had let her language skills remain undeveloped. Her Prench – Did he say French, with an ‘F’? – remained rudimentary at best.
“So you can understand how two persons would be unable to communicate if they didn't speak the same language. Think about how that should have applied to us.”
And suddenly Twilight understood what Mike's question was about. We are two different species, coming from two different universes. Two isolated cultures─ how could I have missed this?
“It's statistically impossible for two isolated cultures to develop the same identical language.” Twilight exclaimed, making sure to put an emphasis on the word impossible. “Sure, there may be a hoof-full of root words driven by biological commonalities, but that's about all one could expect. In our case we don't even have that much.”
“That's exactly what I talking about” Mike exclaimed excitedly. “How is such a thing even possible?” Mike's question stated Twilight's own thoughts. She could almost feel a deep mystery swirling around her.
“I-I don't know, Mike. I've only just now come to realize this and I'm at a total loss.” Twilight gasped suddenly. “And it’s not just our spoken language, Mike, but the written form as well. I can read your books as easily as if they were printed in Equestria.”
They both stared at each other for a moment. There was nothing more to be said, so they both turned to resume their journey. Walking in silence, they meditated on the coincidence of their common tongue.
Twilight was deep in thought, following Mike's lead along the trail when she was interrupted by his voice, breaking the silence. “Isolation.”
Startled out of her own thoughts she wasn't sure what he had said. “Sorry, what was that?”
Mike had stopped again, as if walking and speaking concurrently was a difficult task. “Isolation. You said it yourself, that it was statistically impossible for two isolated cultures to develop the same language. Would this not mean that our two cultures, our universes even, are not isolated from each other?”
Mike's proposed solution did not sit too well with Twilight. “That's ridiculous. Surely we would know if our two worlds were in contact with each other.”
“Maybe.” Mike replied, “And then again maybe not. Our mythology does contain references to Unicorns, Pegasi, Dragons and other fanciful beasts. So maybe there has been contact with your world in the past. Who's to say that some form of limited contact isn't still ongoing?”
“I think your theory is wildly speculative. How could our cultures have sufficient contact for their spoken and written languages to converge while still remaining unaware of each other?”
“I don't know.” Mike admitted. “But you're here and that's an established fact. So contact between our universes is possible.”
Opening her mouth for a rebuttal, Twilight discovered she couldn’t refute his logic.
---------------------
It was apparent, from the length of their walk that Twilight had wandered through these woods for a considerable distance. But after half an hour of retracing her steps, they had reached the end.
They had wandered into a small clearing under the trees. The clearing was no more than five or six body lengths wide but ran up a very gentle slope for about twelve body lengths before coming to an end at a rock face.
Twilight halted abruptly and grabbed Mike with her magic momentarily, to prevent him from walking any further into the clearing. “I think this is it. This is where I arrived into your world.”
“Are you sure, Twilight? Not that I doubt you or anything, but what makes you so sure that this is the location?”
“I think I was unconscious when I arrived but I seem to remember seeing that rock wall soon after I woke up. It's rather unclear, here let me try something−” Twilight’s horn lit up with a burst of light as she invoked her memory-recall spell for the second time that day.
Twilight wanted to sleep, yet her body ached intensely and a deep penetrating cold burned wherever she came in contact with the ground. Coming further awake she realized that she was lying in total darkness, though something glimmered faintly at her from off to her side.
Alarmed at finding herself alone in the dark in some unknown location, Twilight struggled to stand up. The effort proved unsuccessful, merely revealing how weak her entire body was.
Now terrified, Twilight resumed her struggles with the aid of a surge of adrenaline. Climbing successfully onto her hooves, she used her horn to illuminate her surroundings.
A stab of pain at the base of horn nearly caused her to let go of her magic, but she held on as the pain slowly receded. As the pain receded to a dull throb, Twilight was able to open her eyes and look around. She found herself standing in snow that was about a hoof deep. Trees surrounded her on all sides of her little clearing, except for a wall of rock to her right whose edges extended beyond the reach of her horn's light.
Dropping her spell, Twilight shook her head and blinked as she reacquainted herself with the daylight. Mike was holding her and shouting. “...Twilight! Please wake up. Can you hear me? Twilight!”
“Yes, Mike. I can hear you. Why are you shouting at me?” she asked, confused by his behavior.
“Are you kidding?” He exclaimed, pulling her in for an uncomfortable hug. “Your eyes went really wide, all white and glowy. They were practically shooting out beams of light!” Mike released his hug and shoved her back. “And then you just stood there, not moving and I couldn't get you to respond. You had me scared half to death, Twilight. I didn't know what was wrong with you.”
Twilight could not help but smile at Mike. “It was nothing to worry about Mike. I was using a memory-recall spell on myself, to see if I could remember anything from the night I arrived. It's a variation of some magic I encountered recently which allowed me to look at the past. The glowing eyes and trance-like state are just some unfortunate side effects. It was my mistake for not warning you ahead of time, for that I'm sorry.”
“Well, I hope it was worth it.” Mike glowered at her. “You really had me scared. Seriously, that glowing eyes thing you did was really creepy.”
Secretly Twilight was pleased by Mike's reaction. She wasn't proud of the feeling, it was a little selfish, but she had to admit that it was there. That feeling of being happy somepony cared so much.
“It was worth it, Mike. This is where I woke up, and I remembered seeing that rock there.”
“Well then.” He said, calm once again. Mike began to remove his backpack. “If every thing's okay, let's get started.”
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Nice! I was beginning to wonder if this story was dead, but seeing it updated had me smiling.
D'aww they're so oblivious and it's adorable.
On the "constructive feedback" note, you've been missing a few commas in dialogue when someone addresses someone else by name. Things like “It was worth it Mike" should really be "It was worth it, Mike." See the miscellaneous dialogue punctuation section of the writing guide (https://www.fimfiction.net/writing-guide#Miscellaneous-dialogue-punctuation)
Awesome, a new chapter just before bed!
I am glad to see a new chapter. I don't have much in the way of complaints or feedback besides saying that I highly enjoy this story as it brings up many interesting points about both worlds and makes you see a few parallels between them as well. Keep up the good work!
6046727 Tthank you very much.
I was wondering why MS Word was highlighting most of the sentences where I used a name.
Duh! Sometimes this old dog is too thick to learn a trick.
Grate chapter. i am wondering is the going to be romance betwen mike and twilight ?.
as it looks like mike is geting feelings for twilight or is that just me reading this wrong ?
6047579 How do I reasonably answer a question like that?
I don't want to throw out spoilers for everyone who's following the story.
You will have to stay tuned, and find out developments as they happen.
I really like this.
Your music is fine with me, hehe. I loved the Onegai Teacher anime, I first saw it when I was like 14 or so. I've heard Phil Collins before, but know nothing of Enya.
Also, I love this story glad to see it an update for it.
I'm contractually obligated to shout, "Phil! Cheer up!" any time I encounter a Phil Collins song.
It's good to see that Twi's Aura of Irresistible Huggability is still functioning properly.
. . . meanwhile, somewhere in Alaska. "Sir we have a confirmation on an alien Contact."
But seriously, extreme Kudos for this story.
6053164 Fixed. And Thanks.
6055277 The idea of using Owlowiscious as a self-motivated character came from a chapter in the story "The Second Year; Gravidity" - written by 'TwilightsmyMare'. I wrote to him and asked I could steal his idea and characterization.
Though I confess Owlowiscious's back story is my own creation.
6058836 Whoooeee! I had a whole lot of fun writing that part in particular.
It was truly amazing how my idea that Applejack was deliberately twitting Twilight about 'friendship' fell perfectly in line with the show's original action and dialogue.
6055679 Good, because the backstory was my favorite part.
6046727 Just a quick note to say that I've tried to clean up my punctuation. (ie: missing commas) as per your feedback.
ITYM "sewing machine" here.
Glad to see a recent update!
6100851 Thanks for catching that. Fixed.
I hope you enjoy the new chapter.
"Only Time" has been used and abused for humor so many times, I can't take it seriously anymore. I'm sorry, but I just can't. Also, I don't know too many teenagers who would mind being introduced to a new anime. As for that last one, anyone who doesn't at least respect a Rock God like Phil Collins is not someone whose opinion you should care about anyway.
"Shining would kiss her horn" "It was the best feeling in the world"
kiss her horn best feeling in the world
NOPE!
Considering I have been conditioned to think of the horn has an erogenous zone, that sentence was SO WRONG!
A shame they dont make a fridge that could run off propane or electricity of a home size. they exist in rvs though
Extra word.
*Shrug* Many Worlds.
If all possible universes exist either in potential, or actuality, there would be effectively an infinite number of universes where English is the spoken language.
6603150 My headcannon does not invoke the Many Worlds theory.
Ah i see the universe's hate of bipedal beings close to twilight transferred over.
The first 2 songs I like but the last one I hate. Also BOOKS!
would the author of this story tell me will there be a romantic bond between mike and twilight as far as I see those two are perfect together!
6603654 I know that that is a comment from long ago, but the Many Worlds theory is not so much a thing that can be true or false if multiple universes exist, but more a logical extrapolation of it. If more than one universe exists, then "anything can happen" must be fact.
I wake up like that too sometimes
They're gonna need specialized equipment, methinks, for detecting any variances that might remain.
Їж сало, kurwa!
Been there, done that. 5 am on weekends and vacation, 5 more mins on school days.
(*snort*) At this rate, they're gonna cuddle tonight! 😊
CategoricalGrant would be proud!
Add then the inevitable inner queries of romance and compatibility and stuff tomorrow. (😯)(
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Lol anyway, but seriously, if it went that direction, not sure how Mike would think through it (even as a "realistic Christian man"; though I myself have resolved the issue in my mind, more or less), but I imagine he'd conclude with "I don't know how to feel about this, so friendzone!" as well as "3-day romances are silly Disney tripe lol".