The First
Language check. Anything wrapped in < > in this chapter is spoken English, everything else is in Equish. Mike (and the other kids/foals) are able to keep up a conversation reasonably well now, although they still have to fish for some words, parents are not doing so great.
Mike was up at dawn. The house was mostly quiet, just the sound of his footsteps and the odd noisy floorboard his companion. Wrapping a towel around his lower body he took control of the bathroom before any of the females of the house could attempt it. Locking the door behind him, he gave a happy sigh. "<Saturday. The sacred tradition of the first Saturday of the school year>."
Running the bath, waiting for the water to run hot, Mike stuffed the plug in and poured in the bubble bath. The reaction in the water was almost instant, the tub began to fill up with bubbles, they would soon be spilling over the sides. Mike didn't care. Sloshing down into the bath, his mind fell back to when he was smaller, the exact same brand of bubble bath, the exact same smell. He slid down, his body making a hole in the bubbles enough that he could look through the tunnel of them and remember his friend, someone he thought he could trust. "Just some whizz, help you study, mate." The memory of the words made him shudder a little.
One word dug Mike out of that place, where his best friend was trying to sell him speed. "<Mum>…" It was all too soon. They had packed up and moved, he hadn't even finished his schooling for the year. The door sounded like a little elephant was banging on it as hard as they could. "<Go away, I'm in the bath>!"
"<Mum! Mike's been in the bath for hours>!"
Mike heard a muffled sound from his mother and smiled; she knew what this was all about. "<Almost done>!" And he was. The memory was a harsh one, but it wasn't one he wanted to dwell on. Maud and her sisters seemed more real to him than James felt, now, even the name of his former best friend didn't trouble him so much. "<Bubble baths are awesome>."
"<Miiiiikkkkkeeeee! I need to get ready to go to the cricket with mum>!"
'She isn't going to stop. Still, at least I got some relaxation time.' Kicking with his legs, Mike pushed himself backwards, causing the water to splash a little as he made his exit from the bath. Toweling off, he spent the minimum of time on his hair before wrapping the towel back around his waist. The moment his hand touched the lock on the door, he was nearly hit in the face. Dodging back from the swinging door, he rolled his eyes at Robin. "<I used all the hot water, sorry>."
"<You what>?!" Robin rushed to the shower and spun the taps on, when she got a good blast of hot water she turned to growl at her brother more, but he was already leaving.
Mike selected his clothes carefully, grabbing a jacket despite the heat outside. Stuffing the warmer clothing into his backpack, he checked on the two water bottles. "<Oh, can't forget my camera>." Stuffing the little digital camera in his bag, he gave a nod. "<Okay, I should be ready for anything Equestria can throw at me>."
Opening his bedroom door, Mike spotted the line at the bathroom, and grinned. "I think Robin should be just about done." He carefully walked around Candela and Misty, giving the latter a little rub on the shoulder. "Are you going to the game too?"
"Yup, Robin said it's going to be… what?" Misty looked up at Mike's rolled eyes. "What? Did she lie?"
"She didn't lie because she has never been to a cricket game before. I think she's a little bored here, and just wants something to do. Cricket… is a boring sport."Mike crouched down to a better level with the filly. "There is no telling her that. But she's going to get bored pretty quick, do you think you could help keep her busy?"
"That depends," Misty's eyes narrowed, "how boring are we talking? I mean, if it gets too boring I might fall asleep, then I can't promise anything." Misty closed her eyes when the finger poked her in the nose. "Stop that!"
"Nope, you're too cute." Mike tousled Misty's mane a little more. "There should be something to do there, otherwise I doubt anyone would go." Mike walked further down the hall, toward the kitchen. His mom was already up, making sandwiches.
Joyce tilted her head when she heard her son enter the kitchen. "<Almost got your food packed, dear>." She pointed to a plate on the table, two pieces of French Toast on it. "<By the time you're done with breakfast it will be>."
Mike already lifted the first half-slice up and was crunching through the toast. "<Mmm, rart mrrm>." He grinned at her exasperated look. Gulping down the first mouthful, he stopped. "<Sorry, but you do make the best French Toast ever>." The remainder of the piece was soon chasing the first mouthful.
"<Here's yours>." Joyce set a plastic container, packed with sandwiches, down on the table beside Mike. "<You're going to be careful, right? If there are strange things, don't go>—" She stopped at her son's wide grin. "<What>?"
"<You mean don't go out into the Australian wilds, where snakes and tiny spiders are likely to kill me, and instead go to Equestria, where adorable ponies live>?" Mike chewed his second piece of egg-infused sweet toast and grinned at his mom.
"<You're growing up too fast. I want my little boy back>." Joyce hugged Mike from behind. "<You will be safe? Listen to your friends if they warn you about anything. And I don't care how silly it sounds, but take care>."
"<I will, mum. Remember, I told you about James>." Mike lifted a hand to cover his mother's, but when he reminded her of why they moved, she squeezed tighter. "<Love you, mum>." With a newer perspective, he could see all the reasons why she had pulled him away from his old friends. 'Mums are amazing like that…' An enthusiastic knocking at the front door broke the moment. "<I'll get it>." Mike got up and made his way to the front door, as the knocking repeated. "<Hold on, I'm opening it>…"
"Princess Mike's going to open the door for us!" Pinkamena's voice was clear and easy to hear through the door.
It was impossible for Mike to keep a wide grin from his face. "Well, if I'm your princess you need to do what I say." He pulled the door open, spotting all four of the Pie sisters together. "I'm almost ready… Hey, isn't it really early there?"
"Yes, really early." Maud looked up as Joyce came up behind Mike, carrying his backpack. "Oh, hello."
Marble ducked around behind Limestone, using the older mare as strategic cover against the unknown human.
"<Oh yeah. Mum, this is Maud, Pinkamena, Marble, and Limestone>. This is my mum." Mike gestured to each of the ponies as he introduced them. "<Don't mind Marble, she's just a little shy>." He gave a smile to the filly hiding behind Limestone.
Clearly having remembered how her son spoke to ponies "on their level," Joyce crouched down so she was almost eye-to-eye with Limestone, the biggest of the sisters. "<You take care of my little boy>." She ignored her son's groan. "<I would normally say 'don't keep him up late,' but he said there was something odd about time, I'm trusting you, Limestone>."
"<Uh… mum, she doesn't understand English. Her sisters are the ones learning it>." Mike put a hand on Joyce's shoulder. "She said, 'You have to take care of me…' She still thinks of me as her foal."
Limestone looked up at Joyce, giving her a more passive look than normal. She just nodded to Mike's mother, eyes locked together.
"What are they doing?" Mike leaned down and gently elbowed Maud.
"Okay, let's go." Limestone looked around at her family, then to Mike. "Stay close, and nothing bad will happen." She stalked off, leaving Marble to crowd in between Mike and Pinkamena.
"Wait, bad? What bad stuff could happen in Equestria?" Mike reached a hand down to touch the filly's shoulder before straightening up to follow Limestone. "Hey, Maud, what does your sister mean?"
"Which one?" Maud's eyes danced with the mirth she was clearly trying to keep under her dry tone, but she couldn't keep it in for long and snorted with laughter. "Limestone is just a bit abrasive, like Calcite. She wouldn't let you come if she didn't like you."
The walk up to the mine took a good ten minutes, although it passed quickly with Mike talking to Maud and Pinkamena about their home. When the mine entrance loomed before them, all talk stopped. "So this is it?" Mike looked into the well-lit mine. "I don't know why but I thought it would be… something impressive."
"Come on, it'll be dawn soon." Limestone marched forward, taking the lead into the tunnel. Following her up, her sisters and Mike walked easily.
"The tunnel tilts down a little…" Mike held his hand out to the wall, touching the raw-cut stone. He glanced down and to the side and saw Maud was doing exactly the same thing. "This is amazing, to think they carved this by hand. How many picks did they blunt doing it?"
"I can feel them below us, deep below us." Maud's words were soft, reverential. "They're digging around some really hard ore… tin, I think."
A tingle ran through each of them as they passed the portal. It was impossible to see it, and when Mike looked behind him, he saw the tunnel reaching back upwards. "Was that…?" He looked at the little chemical light by the side of the tunnel, then looked back again. "That is really freaky."
"You should see it like this!" Pinkamena was standing right at the very intersection of worlds, half in and half out. Each of the filly's eyes was in a different reality, one Equestria, one Earth. "Wooo, I'm getting a headache! This is awesome!"
Mike moved first, reaching down and grabbing Pinkamena around the belly and pulling her across to the Equestrian side. "Hey, don't tempt the universe like that." He looked down at her and shook his head. "Come on Pinkie, you okay?"
Pinkamena shook her head a little. "Yeah, I just feel a little strange now, like… eh."
When Mike turned back, he saw a little smile on Limestone's face, and as soon as he did it evaporated and she marched off again. When they reached the end of the mine tunnel, Mike watched as the sun was just lifting into the sky. "Oh wow, does the sun always move that fast?" It seemed to rush almost an eighth of the way into the sky, then stopped. "Huh?"
"Princess Celestia always raises it like that." Maud was barely focused, she had managed to find a small round rock from somewhere and was stroking it like a pet.
"Hold on. Princess Celestia?" A round of nods met Mike's question. "Raises the sun, each day?" More nods. "Is… is she… Princess?" Mike paused, thought over what he said. "I don't think you really have a word for this. Uh… she's all-powerful?" He got nods, and giggles, now. "I think I'm starting off a lovely day on the road to a headache, too, which would be a shame. What else can I do in Equestria?
"We have rocks." Maud pulled her attention away from the rock. "Boulder and I could show you." She held up the small, round river stone.
"Hey, don't let me stop you. I just had to get you back here safely and…" Limestone closed her eyes and gave a deep sigh. "And take care of the crazy human. Okay, where are we going?"
Maud's eyes practically shone. "Holder—"
"No!" Limestone cut her sister off, then immediately looked like she regretted it. "Just… just keep away from Holder's Boulder." Limestone turned her sour look at Mike.
"Whoa, look, if it's somewhere special I don't have to see it." It was a lost fight. Mike looked from Maud, who apparently really wanted to show him this Holder's Boulder, to Limestone, who was more angry than he had ever seen her. "I won't touch, or go near Holder's Boulder. Cross my heart, hope to die. Stick a needle, in my eye." Mike looked around the four pony faces, one of them was staring at him in awe. "What?"
All the ponies stared at Mike, but Pinkamena seemed most interested.
Mike crouched down and looked at Limestone, looked her right in the eyes. "It's important to you, isn't it?"
Limestone collected her features. "Just… stay away—"
"From Holder's Boulder. Got it. But you have to promise me something." Mike saw confusion, then interest cross Limestone's face. "I want you to promise to tell me why it's so important."
"The only reason I agreed to this is because you're nice to Marble and Pinkamena." Limestone gave Mike a half smile. "Holder's Boulder… is just a big rock." She gave a sigh, letting out a held breath. "A really big rock, that Holder Cobblestone found in a dragon's nest. He built our farm around it, that was…"
"Eight generations back." Marble smiled nervously at her big sister.
"Yeah, a long time ago." Limestone led the way to the small pass that led between the mountains. "Come on, shouldn't take long to get there."
Mike blinked at the interaction. The mystery of it was more important to her than the actual rock. He felt a little bad about having pushed. "Hold on, dragon? There are dragons here?" He looked up. "What have I gotten myself into?"
"Don't worry, Mike, dragons don't hang around here… unless they're angry." Pinkamena tapped her chin as she walked. "They live waaaaaayyyyyy to the east."
"So they don't foalnap princesses?" Mike took the filly's description as a reason not to worry, and decided a joke was in order. "Because I have to say, being a princess means I'm a little worried about that…" All four ponies looked at Mike a moment in surprise, before they all started to giggle. "Finally!" His shout startled them.
"What?" Maud looked at Mike as they walked.
"I got Limestone to laugh!" He grinned at the startled mare. "Sorry, but I wanted to hear your laugh." Mike reached out and was just about to boop her, when she jerked back. "You can't evade me forever."
"Sure I can." Limestone gave Mike a final glare and trotted off down the valley, leaving the rest to follow her.
Chatting with the three fillies, Mike left Limestone to her own devices while they walked. When at last the valley let out to a huge plain, he stopped. "Rocks?"
"Lots of rocks. This is our rock farm." Maud seemed to brighten further. "We grow the nicest ones in that—"
"I thought you were joking. How do you farm rocks? Who buys them? What…" Mike was lost gazing across the dirt fields, strewn with stones.
Maud walked to the nearest field, reached out and picked up a small rock. "This one is going to be used in decorative gardens. But only if it grows a bit bigger." She set the stone back, right where she had lifted it from. "This whole field will."
"So you grow rocks. They actually get bigger…" Mike tried to keep the skepticism out of his tone. "Magical land of ponies, dragons, and princesses. Don't focus on the rocks."
"But the rocks are the best bit." Maud gestured at the field. "Rocks work different here than on Earth." She looked down. "Not this earth, your Earth."
"I got it, still not easy to really think about in detail. So what are we going to do?" Mike looked around, only for a bunch of hooves to grab his hands and drag him forward. "Hey!"
"Come on!" Pinkamena had one of Mike's hands in her hoof, Maud the other, and between them they dragged him toward the farm on the rise overlooking the farm. "You can meet ma and pa!"
Mike found it easy to be dragged along, there was so much excitement in the three ponies to easily make up for Limestone, and even she wasn't as down on him as normal. When they reached the farmhouse, the door opened and two very sombre ponies stepped out. Mike crouched down, finding himself almost down to their eye level.
"Mom, dad, this is Mike." Maud had a calm half-smile on her face as she introduced them. "Mike, this is mom and dad. They—"
"So this is the colt you keep talking about? My name is Igneous Rock Pie, and my wife is Cloudy Quartz." Igneous stared at Mike with the hardness his name implied, while Cloudy Quartz looked over the top of her glasses at him, studying the human.
"Sir, ma'am, it's an honor to meet you." The words came easily, both stallion and mare seemed, to Mike, to be lord and lady of their domain. "And please forgive any mistakes I make talking—"
"Yeah," Pinkamena cut in, "Princess Mike is still learning Equish." All three younger sisters giggled at the words.
"Princess?" Igneous raised an eyebrow, giving Mike a studying look. "Well, it wouldn't be right of me to not give you the friendliest welcome I could, so welcome to the Pie Rock Farm." He gestured to the side.
"We haven't seen a creature like you before, Mike." Cloudy lifted a hoof to carefully adjust her glasses. "Where exactly are you from?"
Maud almost bounced in place. "He lives with—"
"I was asking Mike, dear." Cloudy gave her excited daughter a stern look. "Now, where was it?"
"I live in the world on the other side of the mineshaft, with my mom, Joyce, and my sister, Robin, as well as our teacher, Candela, and her filly, Misty Rainfall." Mike tried to keep things calm and orderly, her friends' parents seemed quite severe, demanding of as much respect as they gave.
"All mares and fillies? I bet that is trying for a colt." Cloudy smiled a bit now, most of the judging look fading from her eyes. "Well, my fillies have had nothing but good things to say of you, all of them." She looked from Limestone to Marble. "Which was a little surprising."
"Have you ever worked on a farm before?" Igneous pointed at the fallow-looking paddocks, that were anything but fallow. When Mike shook his head, he grinned. "Then I can teach you some things, without you knowing the wrong things first."
Maud looked stricken, her eyes flicking from Mike to her father. Mike wanted to give her a hug, but he also wanted to make a good first impression. "I look forward to it, sir. I wonder if I might have somepony to help show me what to do?"
"Well, why don't we all go out." Cloudy Quartz smiled at her daughters. "Make a real day of working."
~~~~~+++++~~~~~
They were left standing on the edge of the field, the tiny little stones—each the size of a pea—sitting in neat rows. The crop was planted. Mike couldn't help the feeling of accomplishment spread through him, he had worked long and hard, but something important had gotten done.
"You're a good worker, Mike." Igneous turned and stood beside Mike. "If you ever need to talk to another stallion, you come out here."
Mike stared at Igneous, as the stallion walked away from him, and couldn't help but smile a little. Of course, his belly grumbling completely ruined the moment.
"The sound of young, growing ponies wanting their lunch." Cloudy clacked her tongue. "Come on girls, and of course you too, Mike. I had a pot of rock soup heating back at the house." She might as well have rung a huge gong, all the energy spent working the field hadn't seemed to deprive the Pie sisters, or Mike, at all; bolting back to the house, an impromptu race was started and run.
Panting by the time he reached the house, Mike had lost, in last place. "It's not fair, you all have twice as many legs as me." Though his words were griping, his smile was genuine. "What sort of rock soup does your mom make?" He followed Pinkamena inside, queuing up to wash for lunch.
"Slate, today." Maud had come in second, just behind Marble. She was washing her hooves beside her little sister. "Might have some sediment seasoning."
"Oh, oh, maybe little pebbles." Pinkamena seemed bright and happy, but leaned in to Mike, having to gesture for him to crouch by her snout. "Not all ponies can eat rocks, though. Will you be able to eat them?"
"Okay, there might be some intercommunication here." Mike looked around the sisters, reaching to rub Pinkamena on the shoulder in thanks. "Is this soup made with rocks, or vegetable soup heated by rocks, that you then remove?"
"Why would you remove the rocks?" Limestone had cleaned up and was on her way to the dining room to help prepare the table, it seemed. "The rocks are the best bit."
Mike looked at Pinkamena, she looked back with a wince of sympathy. He inhaled deeply and thought of the bubble bath. "I'll figure something out." He stepped up and washed his hands in the trough, scrubbing them clean and turning, the last to head into the dining room.
Limestone was pouring the soup into bowls, and making sure each got a large, flat piece of slate. She looked at Mike with a raised eyebrow and a half grin.
"Uh, just the broth, thanks. My teeth aren't really up to a good slate." Mike saw Limestone's smile widen. "I do have to ask, though, if I could have the recipe? Mom would actually yell at me if I didn't at least ask."
"Oh!" Cloudy flushed a little at the request. "Well, I will see what I can do." While she spoke, Limestone ladled out a bowl of broth for Mike, passing it down the table to where some room was left for him.
Taking his seat, Mike looked at the dark-green soup. 'Smells good, but there's only one way to tell how good.' He carefully lowered a spoon into the hot broth, then raised his spoon up. It was an odd taste. There was none of the usual vegetables in the mix, but there was certainly plants. Mike drank the soup, swirling it on his tongue before swallowing. "That is really different."
Cloudy was halfway through working up a good disapproving stare over her glasses, when Mike took another spoonful, then another, and another. She was smiling by the time his spoon dipped for the fifth time.
Mike worked his way through the soup, only stopping once his bowl was just little specks of grit at the bottom. "That was really good!" He was surprised with it, although he would have said it was good anyway, he found he actually meant it. "So what are we doing next?"
Crunching the rock from her soup, Maud waited until she gulped the rock down before answering. "I want to show you Holder's Boulder." She looked evenly across the table at Limestone, the challenge to argue against it laid down.
"Can I take a picture of it?" Mike got up and found his bag, and lifted out his camera. Thumbing the little device on, he froze. "Oh no… don't act up on me…" The screen lit up, but the picture seemed to warp and distort.
"What's that?" Pinkamena trotted over to Mike and looked at the screen of the little camera. "Oh, that's pretty… what does it do?"
"It's my camera. It should show a picture of—" Mike's description was cut short when the screen cut off completely. "Ugh, I wanted to take a photo of—of everything."
"Oh…!" Pinkamena sounded as if she were about to continue with a huge explanation of why Mike's camera wasn't working, why most electronics wouldn't, but the silence following her exclamation dragged on.
"Well, can we go and see it?" Mike suddenly had an excited Maud at his side. "You said it was found in a dragon nest?"
"Yes, although it's clear it isn't an egg. Not only is it much too big, but the layers of sediment built up around the base is a clear sign it's a really old rock." Maud led the way, her face more animated than ever.
'She really opens up when talking about rocks or her sisters.' "Hey, Maud. Do you have comedy… groups, here?" Mike followed her out the front door—at the opposite end of the house from where they had entered—and froze. "Oh wow, that is huge."
Limestone trotted over beside Mike, and gave a smile when he stopped back a good five feet from it. "It's pretty cool…" She stood back beside Mike and looked at the boulder.
"Everything just seems brighter here." Mike crouched down to get a better angle on the world, a more "pony" angle. "You said Princess Celestia raises the sun. How does she do that?"
"She's an alicorn, they have all kinds of magic." Limestone looked to Mike, her eyes focused. "Why, thinking of going to meet her?"
Mike judged the mare's lopsided grin to be a joke he wasn't getting. "Maybe I will, where does she live?" 'It would be pretty cool, I wonder what an alicorn looks like.'
Maud jumped in before her sister. "She lives in a castle, on the side of a huge mountain of granite, although I think there is some sedimentary rocks around the surface. I want to see the castle, and how it anchors into the rock."
"What's the easiest way to get there?" Mike ran his fingers through the dirt idly, finding small pebbles. 'Weeds.' He didn't even realize his brain was categorizing them as a type of plant, he started tossing some to the side, leaving others that seemed right.
"We would have to walk to the station near Ghastly Gorge, then take the train to Canterlot." Maud looked past Mike to her big sister. "Could we go?"
"It takes a day or two to get to Ghastly Gorge, then you will need to spend a day at the minimum, in Canterlot." Limestone gave a sigh and reached up to flick some of her mane to the side. "Then that much getting back here. I guess you could go—" She stared at her little sister, when Maud began to get excited. "But you have school. So maybe when you have your next holidays."
Mike sobered for a moment. "So I'll get to meet a princess?"
"The princess." Limestone gestured up with a forehoof. "She's the ruler of all Equestria, she raises and lowers the sun and moon…"
"And I can just see her? Talk to her? Isn't she… I don't know, busy?" It just seemed wrong, to Mike, that a leader of a whole country would just talk to people. "Okay then, first holidays we get. We should probably start heading back. The whole time thingy is… confusing. Is it going to be early evening at home?"
"Evening." Maud pointed in the direction they would have to go. "Do we have to go now?"
"Yeah, come on." Limestone was the first to get up. "Grab your bag, Mike, I'll take you home." She narrowed her eyes. "And keep away from Holder's Boulder." Her half-smile offset the words.
Mike took another good look at the boulder and turned, bouncing up to a standing position. He looked around the farm, taking in the sight of the fields of growing rocks, the silo beside the farmhouse, even the house itself. "This is really amazing. Is everywhere in Equestria this awesome, Maud?"
"Maybe. I really want to see that mountain, and I would give anything to travel all the way to the dragon lands, just to see a volcano." Maud walked at Mike's side.
Reaching the house, Mike grabbed his backpack and started walking back with all four of the Pie sisters. "So, what are we doing next weekend?" Mike secured the straps over his shoulders.
"We are coming to your house." Maud flashed a look to Limestone as she said it. "It's only fair."
"I'll ask mom for you." Limestone shook her head. "Besides, if he comes over every second weekend to help, I can afford a day off." As soon as they neared the town, they saw Ball Clay bouncing around a cart in the middle of the street.
"What's going on?" Mike strode forward, looking around for an adult to ask. No sooner did he near the cart than a mare came rushing out to him.
"You're Mike, right? Ball has been talking about you. Could you take these through to Candela? Apparently she ordered a lot of books to be forwarded here." When Mike blinked in surprise at the mare, she added. "Oh, we haven't met. I'm Porcelain Clay, Ball's mother."
Mike looked to the Pie sisters, each shrugging to him. "Uh, sure. I guess we can take them through." He looked into the cart and, sure enough, it was filled with books.
"I'll pull it." Maud moved quicker than her big sister, rushing to the cart's harness. She stood up under it, barely lifting the two shafts that hung on each side of her.
About to say something, Mike froze when the filly just started walking, pulling the cart and load without apparent issue. "Okay, that's pretty awesome, Maud." He gave Porcelain a wave. "Bye!"
"Goodbye!" Porcelain Clay waved back to Mike, smiling happily. "Thanks for taking them!"
"That's just Maud, she's really strong." Pinkamena trotted up to Mike side. "Are we really allowed to come to your house next weekend?"
"Sure." Mike's brain didn't register that he probably should ask his mother before agreeing, until after he had. "Uh, I should probably ask my mom first..."
"You should have." Marble took his other side, walking toward the mine beside the cart. "Let us know on Monday."
As they reached the mine, everyone could see the obvious problem, but Limestone was first to voice it. "The cart won't fit, we will have to carry them through. Mike, start loading them up on our backs."
"On your backs?" Mike blinked in confusion. "Uh, you can balance stuff like that?" Despite his questions, Mike peeled back the cover of the cart, revealing eight big boxes of books.
"Two for me." Limestone stepped up beside the cart, feeling first one heavy load, then another, plant down on her back. She adjusted herself under it, keeping both balanced. "Perfect. One each for the fillies." Pinkamena and Marble both gave a groan. "I mean it."
Mike gave Marble's shoulders a little rub, then set a box on her back, then did the same for Pinkamena. "You sure you're okay balancing those?" He held his hands to each side of Pinkamena's box.
Maud jumped up and looked in the cart. "There is four left. Stack three on me." She jumped back down and got into the position. Maud looked up with a frown when she wasn't feeling weight on her back. "Come on."
"Uh… okay." Mike looked to Limestone, and got a nod from her. Heaving up the first box, he set it down on Maud's withers. "You good with that?"
"More. We aren't making two trips." Maud's face showed not a hint of strain.
Mike set the second over her croup, then grabbed up a third. "Tell me if this is too much." He set the third box down atop the first two, keeping his hands near it in case he had to rescue it. "You really are strong, Maud. That is amazing." With a grin, Maud trotted away from Mike, to join her sisters. Lifting the last box of books out, Mike hefted it in his arms.
"Come on." Limestone started into the mine, leading their little literary procession. They were mostly silent until the crossover point. Stepping through, Limestone looked up the tunnel and spotted Mike's mother. "Mike, your mom's here."
Walking along with his friends, Mike watched his mom turn and spot them. With her back to the miner she had been chatting to, she winked to Mike. "<Hi mu>—"
"<Don't you dare 'Hi mum' me, young man>!" Joyce stomped toward Mike. "<Where have you been>?"
Mike recoiled in shock. "<Mum, I—it's only mid-afternoon>…" He saw her smile, but with his own face to the miners he had to look shocked and whipped. "<I said I would be there most of the day>."
"<It's seven o'clock! What are all these>?" Joyce gestured to the boxes, obviously full of books.
"<Books, mum. This is why we were taking so long. Candela had a delivery and they wanted us to bring them all over>." Mike sat his box down and walked up to his mother, wrapping her in a hug. "<Putting on a bit of a show. Was I gone long enough>?"
"<Yeah, it was perfect>." Joyce hugged her son back, giving an extra little squeeze. Letting go, she stared at Maud as the pony passed. "<Are you okay carrying all of that>?"
"<It's fine>." Maud seemed to close down, her face going passive, her voice coming back in a monotone. "<Really>."
"<Come on, mum, let's head home. Candela will want to go through all these>." Mike hefted up his box again. "Thanks, Limestone. Mom was trying to get an idea, from the miners, how all of this started. I was her cover story."
"Huh, your mom is clever." Limestone started walking, her sisters, Mike, and Joyce all moving along too. "So you aren't actually in trouble?"
"Nope, well, if I've broken the camera I might be, but that totally wasn't my fault." Mike saw, as they exited the mine, that it really was early evening. "<Oh, mum. Can Maud, Limestone, Pinkamena, and Marble come over next weekend>?"
Joyce blinked and looked around the ponies. "<I don't see why not. I won't be busy with any sport, it's an away game. Sure, they can visit. I would love to chat with them about their world>"
Mike picked up a hint of something from his mom. "<You're the best, mum>." Then it hit him, he was going to have to explain everything about where they had gone—everything.
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That's interesting, can Mike feel the magic?
We're surprised the camera didn't work so well. I figured there would be heavy interference with the magic and all that, but not that badly. Oh well, time for some legacy products! Bring out the film!
The Pie sisters are really warming up to him, huh?
To Limestone: how do you feel about Mike crushing on your sisters?
Keep going! ;)
Something like this image gif (large file wait for it to load, takes a bit)
orig10.deviantart.net/a9ff/f/2016/064/7/0/trapped_8_exp_by_equumamici-d9tyw93.gif
Yep!
Always love spellchecker for not understanding context.
fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/096/a/4/here_comes_the_airplane__by_pandramodo-d60pjg6.png
7897884 Electronic camera can't accept loss of 3rd dimension and interact with altered 4th and additional 5th dimension.
Need to take my dads old 1960's German 35mm film camera, has really good optic lens. Very fine picture quality.
collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Voigtlander-Vito-C.jpg
7898046 Fixed. And yeah, Pinkamena is still silly, but she is lacking that spark that is her confidence that making smiles IS her destiny.
Contractions recommended.
of or about
8453700 All fixed. Gah, trying to work out the best way to train myself out of this. I mean, I could turn on auto-replace on my editor, but that is going to do a lot more than just what I want. Is there a way to get libreoffice to just highlight contractions?
8453763
Reading it out loud could help.
Yeah, the Everfree is on the same order of magnitude as the Australian wilds, and the rock farm maybe had parasprites on occasion, so it might not be that safe an area wildlife-wise. Not to mention falling rocks and other " industrial hazards " the Pie's avoid without thinking about, or whatever the magical equivalent of sticking a fork in a power outlet is...
8549139 Australian wilds aren't that dangerous, I might point out. The problem with Aussie bushland is identifying nasties and giving them a wide berth. He literally has no idea what dangers to look for in Equestria.
Pretty sure you have the wrong name here, and again a couple of paragraphs past that.
8580637 Ack, sorry about that. Fixed them.
i'm beginning to wonder what happens to the language barrier between now and the sequel?
8984473 The Knowing. But also the simple expedient of learning their languages.
Reading this like: Yes! It has begun!
Famous last words.
It's hard to say, but did he mispronounce "miscommunication" in Equish or this is a typo?
10911190 That one is intentional.
"What we have here—is a failure to communicate." Though Mike is too young for that movie.
Late comment
Had this story on my reading list for a while but finally got started. I like the language disconnect aspect as many other people just have the pones speak perfectly the second they cross the portal or whatever using magic or gizmos as a handwave. From the getgo I've completely integrated into my head-canon the idea that ponish is different than human language.
The pacing is rather quick but I'll accept that as a stylistic choice.
And finally a suggestion I know another writer who does some really good stuff with Australian English if you ever considered tagging some real Aussie Slang into your writing.
11398002
I am Australian, btw.