Deferment (Days 65 - 76)

Day 65

I can’t think of a proper excuse so maybe I’ll try just ignoring the fact I haven’t written for a month. It’s not so much that the month has been boring. I’m still loving my time here. It’s just that day to day life doesn’t change much. Seems like a waste of paper to just write out the same things every week. It]s almost as if I’ve completely forgotten about why I came here in the first place. I was supposed to research the transformation process and decide if I wanted to get changed myself. I think now it’s really a matter of when. They way things are now I feel like I get the best of both worlds. The way things are seems kind of perfect.

Except for the snow anyway. I hate cold weather so much. Kind of makes me wish I was on the Equestrian side where they’re just transitioning into summer. I have warm clothing and I’ve stolen my nonexistent roommates blankets and sheets but it’s not enough. I spend most of my free time in the dining hall next to the fireplace. It’s pretty nice.  I’ve gotten a couple of other board games to play with Willow and Seafoam and the other ponies. We even have a few Equestrian ones. Blue Moon is a weirdo and likes snow. He tries to drag us outside occasionally and I guess it is kind of fun. I don’t plan on making it a habit though. The warm indoors is the place for a human.

I’ve actually been managing to spend a little time in the recovery building. It’s the only other one that’s heated. I guess that makes it a little easier. I don’t really have any training for this sort of thing so I kind of just go in there and sit with the ponies who are having trouble adjusting. Usually I just sit there and listen or assure them it gets better. Most do. Really they need the support most. I think I’m scared the same thing could happen to me. I try not to think about.

On a happier note we missed Willows birthday. Apparently with the way the calendars aren’t synched up she completely forgot about it. We already had a small celebration to make up for it but I wanted to plan something a little more. We still haven’t a made a trip into town together and I’ve got quite a bit set aside that I don’t have any plans for. I was thinking we could make it a group outing. We would have to pack our own food and we’d have to probably could only spare the afternoon evening with our schedules but I think it would be tons of fun.

Only problem is I’m not completely sure what to do for an activity. It has to be something we could do together and it shouldn’t require hands. That really cuts down on a lot of things. I suppose we could go to the mall and look at the human stores but that seems kind of lackluster to me. Besides, who knows what kind of attention we’d attract. I guess I’ll sleep on it.

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Day 67

Sleeping on it did help. I came up with the perfect idea the next morning, though I couldn’t start really putting it into motion until today. There’s an old drive-in theater on the North side of town that’s been shut down. Sadly they don’t have enough business in this town. The owner stills let people rent the place for a night though. He was pretty surprised when I mentioned it would be for ponies though.

It’s actually a pretty nice place for something like this. Shame it’s not running. Screen could use a cleaning but everything else seems to be in good shape. They obviously did some work converting it for the digital age. Which is good, because I don’t know if ponies could appreciate the old reels he has lying around. Godzilla is a great movie. I just don’t know if ponies could enjoy it on the same level. Concession stand is empty but that’s fine. Apparently ponies have as much difficulty stomaching Earth food as I did with Equestrian. We’ll have to bring our own but we can still keep in here. We’ll need to shovel out some space to sit too.

Transportation is a little difficult. Not sure what I’m going to do there yet. It’s 10 miles from here to the drive-in. I was planning on having Blue Moon, Willow and I (maybe Seafoam and Rarity if they’re interested) into town first. There I was hoping to use a cab but I’d like to be able to accommodate the best case scenario that a lot of ponies want to come. I’m not quite sure what to do there. More cabs? That could get expensive and we need drivers willing to drive ponies. I’m sure I’ll think of something.
Anyways got back just after lunch. Going to try and help out with breakfast to make up for the time I skipped today. Now that I think of it this might be the first time I get up so early. Hopefully Blue Moon doesn’t forget to wake me up.

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Day 76

Borrowing a phrase I would have to say last night was the ‘Best Night Ever’. I’m not even exaggerating I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun. I was never much of a party planner or even a party person but for some reason this one just went to well. Maybe it’s because I actually knew the ponies there.

We all met a little before 3:00 and called for a cab. Afternoon training was still going on but only for an hour or two more. Lately it’s a lot easier to time things right. We actually have a clock and phone to use now. Well a sundial and phone. The clock is in the guard building. The only reason it took so long is that apparently it had to be custom made. Equestrian sundials don’t work on Earth. Probably would have been easier just to buy one here. Now that I think about it though pretty much everything here is made from Equestrian materials. I think the phone is the only thing that I didn’t bring in myself.

The trip itself was a little uncomfortable. With Rarity and Seafoam tagging along it was a little cramped in the cab. Though I would say the issue was more layout than space. Chairs just don’t work well with ponies. It was actually the main reason I chose not to use an indoor theater. I guess there are those double seats but I doubt there would be enough. Plus selection of films might not be the best.

Actually for films we stopped at a movie store first. The idea was to pick two movies. I insisted on Up. It’s pretty much the best possible movie, considering the circumstances. I was a little concerned about what to let them pick or if I should try to influence their decision at all. I didn’t want to make it seem like I don’t think they were mature enough to handle a more mature movie but I didn’t want them to pick a gory film or a poor film. I was kind of relived that one of Willows first choice was War Games. She had actually picked out a number of films about computers. I didn’t realize she finds them so interesting.
Next was the mall. This part actually went even better than I had hoped. I didn’t exactly have a concrete plan how to spend two hours. In reality it was easy. It was the small things that were interesting to them. We spent over a hour just browsing a Hobby Lobby. Just looking at things. Models, fabrics, decorations, all kinds of stuff. I was never really a crafty person I don’t think I ever went into one more than once or twice. Even I was pleasantly surprised.

We all got a little something. Rarity was the only other one who thought to bring human money. I didn’t mind, I don’t have much use for this money anyway. My only expenses are transportation, laundry, and gifts. I suppose I should be trying to save some on the off chance I ever return to Earth after being transformed. Still with what I’m earning I’m still putting away quite a bit. Besides, I bet by the time I come back there’ll be an official Bits to Dollars exchange so it won’t really be a problem.

We also stopped at a games store too. The kind that sells both board games and Roleplaying Games too. That was an interesting stop. Though it must have been strange for the employee, working in a place where you sell games about fantasy creatures and then have a group of unicorns and a pegasai wander in. There was a little bit of a close call when Willow asked for suggestions and the employee recommended Settlers of Catan which I had already purchased as a gift last week. Took a little bit of fast talking in order to convince her not to get it, instead picking a game where you put magnets on a mat. I kind of feel bad when we pick a game that requires dexterity like that though. I’m guessing non Unicorn Ponies feel a little left out. Still it was a fun stop.

We still had about 20 minutes to spend before we needed to head to the theater. We probably could have just headed over earlier but a bank of blinking crane games stole Blue Moon’s and Seafoam’s attention. Usually I stay away from those things but I enabled them to indulge themselves. Between them they probably wasted $15 dollars in change and bills before Blue Moon gave up. Rarity mentioned that the claw seemed to be rather weak. I had to explain that it was designed so people couldn’t win without being exceptionally lucky. In fact I never remember seeing anyone ever win on one of these.

Seafoam took a few more tries, going for smaller stuffed animals. Then something a little off happened. She went for one of the larger toys, a big stuffed dog. The crane came down like normal, squished the dogs head a little before coming back up. Instead of the claw sliding off the toy though it maintained a fairly solid grip. I couldn’t really believe it until I noticed something funny about how the claw seemed to be shaking a little. Seafoam’s magic is a bit hard to spot, harder than other Unicorns anyway. Still, it was pretty apparent she was messing with the claw to keep it closed.

The dog dropped into the chute and we all cheered for her. Blue Moon was spurned on to take a few more shots at it, without success. It was all a lot of fun. I don’t know if the others noticed or not. I think Rarity might have but she didn’t say anything about it. I’m not sure quite how I felt about it. Yeah she cheated but only after the machine cheated her. If it was just based on skill she probably would have won three or four times before that. It’s not as if she just levitated the toy to the hole. I’m guessing that in the future there’ll have to be a no Unicorn’s policy with these machines. Not sure how they’ll enforce it though.

From there it was just a 30 minute walk to the theater. I’m not quite sure how Ponies stay warm. Their coat doesn’t look all that warm but they seemed mostly fine all evening. I was cold though. I’m always cold. Though it hasn’t been so bad this year. Maybe it’s because I’m getting more exercise or something. Still, not going out without six layers of clothing. The walk itself was fairly enjoyable though. We got a few weird looks though.

We got there a few minutes before the bus arrived. Rarity had the idea to have the person who brings humans in provide transportation to and from the party.  He didn’t stick around. He said he wasn’t a movie person. Still it was great of him to do the driving for us. I’m not sure how we would have managed otherwise.

Cleaning up the space was rather simple. Simpler than I thought it would be initially. Apparently in Canterlot everypony learns an extra spell or two to help with Winter Wrap Up. Seafoam was a snow clearer, from what I can tell they pretty much just pushed the snow out of the city so it didn’t flood when the temperatures rose. Lucky us, it only took her a few minutes to clear half the parking lot.
When the bus did show up I was surprised at how many ponies were actually on it. I had expected a dozen at most but there was easily over to 20. That wasn’t even including Cadence and the quartet of guards that had come with her in a separate sky chariot/carriage. I was a little surprised she showed up. Yes she’s spending more time at camp lately but she usually seems so serious. Maybe she just saw it as a good chance to relax maybe?

All together it didn’t take too long for us to get set up. Spread the blankets out so we weren’t sitting on the ground, take the food over to the still locked concession stand, and try to explain to some ponies what this place was. After having to explain movies and projectors I was kind of worried that War Games might not go so well where I would have to explain computers and Nuclear Weapons. I was a little worried at that point.

About half way through set up the owner showed up to unlock the place and to let us in the concession stand/projector room. He stayed in the projector room pretty much the whole time. I’m not quite sure why but he seemed a little nervous about the whole thing. Still he was helpful enough and we didn’t run into any technical problems all night.

Setting up a few trays of sandwiches and other snacks didn’t take long, so it was only about 10 minutes before we started with War Games. Which we had to pretty much stop 10 minutes in for me to explain computers, nuclear weapons, and the Cold War. That was probably the most stressful moment of the night. I’m pretty sure the ideas shocked a few ponies but at least it’s a good movie for showing that that kind of thing wouldn’t happen. I had forgotten how 80’s it was though. Those clothes, those green screen computers, and most of all that hacking. You could never get away with something like that these days.
Everypony seemed a little put off by the technojunk at the beginning but as everypony started understanding more things started going better. Willow seemed particularly enthralled by the idea of a learning computer. I promised I’d explain it a bit more to her when I got the chance. I remember something about using matchboxes to play hexpawn. I might be able to recreate that. I think a lot of the ponies missed out on what made the movie interesting but they seemed to enjoy it regardless.

A weird thing happened near the end though. The theater is away from the busy part of town but it still gets some traffic. We actually got some gatecrashers. We were already pretty far into the movie when they drove in and I guess they were just hoping there would be another movie after it. I don’t even think that they realized the primary viewers were ponies before they pulled in.

I had to do a little running back and forth to get things sorted out. By the time I had reached the car two of Cadence’s guards were already there asking them to leave. Of course Willow was right behind me and asked if they wanted to stay. I went to check with Cadence who seemed hesitant at first but then agreed to allow it as long as they didn’t call anyone. I relayed the information back to the guards and visitors who seemed a little confused but agreed. Seems like they were planning on going to a movie anyway and since a free one was playing here they kind of just jumped on the opportunity. They didn’t seem to be particularly pro or anti pony either. One mentioned it was kind of weird that the town hardly ever saw them despite being so close. It is kind of sad how the two groups seem to be so separated.

We took a short break between movies so Willow could open her present. I was the only one who had to wait for this party. For everypony else it’s just a quick walk to Ponyville through the portal while I have to wait a week or so to get on a bus to get to town. Still she loved the gift and got a good laugh at why I tried so hard to get her not to buy it just hours before. Unfortunately we also had a bit of a mishap during our intermission. One of the humans got out of the car to mingle and accidently got to the concession stand where they ate a few sandwiches. She ended up having stomach cramps by the end of Up.
Still, her willingness to mix with the ponies helped to spurn the three guys who were with her to brave the cold and meet the ponies. By the time we finally got the movie started they were sitting down with the rest of us. It was great. Up was a great movie, much more accessible than our first one. Everypony loved it. I caught Cadence laughing out loud a few times. Even the usually stone-faced guards teared up a bit at the end. I can’t think of a better movie to introduce somepony to film.

By then the girl was having the stomach pains that I’m quite familiar with and their group left pretty early. The bus had actually come back in the last half hour of the movie. It only took us a few minutes to clean up the last of the snacks and all pile into the bus. It was much later than most of us were used to. Unless we’re willing to burn lamp oil it’s pretty difficult to do much after sundown. Our clocks are more set by the sun than anything else.

I’m pretty sure I dozed off on the ride back. I don’t even remember getting off the bus or most of the walk back. I do remember a lot of ponies saying that they had a great time and that we should do another in spring. I remember Cadence saying something about it being better than what most foreign dignitaries had for her arrival. Anyway we got back. Said our goodbyes and went to our cabins. Obviously it was too late to write anything that night. Even writing it tonight, it so long it must be past 10:00. I guess I’ll write about what happened today tomorrow.