Immortal Wanderings 3

>Several hours in, you are making pretty good progress, you figure you have most of this shit memorized.

>Tala seems pleased with your progress as well.

>She smiles at you and begins saying something when an audible growl emanates from your stomach.

>She stops mid speech and begins eying you warily.

>You raise an eyebrow at her quizzically. Whats with her? Did she think you were going to eat her or something?

>You think about that for a second, and remember how you encountered this town of ponies by madly chasing one with a spear.

>It was entirely possible that she did think that. As far as they knew you were carnivorous.

>She is still watching you, a worried expression on her face.

>You give her a reassuring smile and shake your head. You turn to the papyrus papery thing you have been practicing writing on and dip your quill in the inkwell.

>You do your best to sketch what roughly looks like an apple. Calligraphy was never something you practiced back in the human world.

>Tala seems to understand though, and beams at you, clearly relieved you don't have pony-flesh in mind for dinner. She nods her head and hops from her chair, disappearing from the room.

>She returns levitating a large tray covered in various foodstuffs, probably more than you could eat if you tried.

>You stare at the amalgamation of food, then give Tala a grateful expression. You begin pointing out various things on the platter that you cannot eat and shaking your head. Hay, flowers, grass, that sort of thing. You hope she gets the idea.

>You begin picking out things you CAN eat, apples, carrots, a potato, and bread, surprisingly.

>Other than the bread, there is a worrying lack of protein, you hope that they have milk or something. That's probably a problem for another time though.

>You begin eating with relish. You hadn't had much food since you got here other than the fish you caught the day before, so you were pleased to eat pretty much anything at this point, even if the menu was vegan.

>All the same, you hope they would be fine with you diversifying your diet a bit. You paused in your meal, wondering what exactly their ideals might be on the consuming of eggs, or fish.

>You were pretty sure they wouldn't be okay with you slaughtering pigs for some bacon. That brought up another question, where the other animals sentient as well? Was your eating fish the other day equivalent to murder?

>You perished the thought.

>You look over at Tala, who is enjoying her own meal; what appears to be a flower sandwich of some kind.

>She pauses and looks back at you. Perhaps she see's the question in your eyes, because she tilts her head and says something with an inquisitive tone.

>You shake your head and wave your hand dismissively, even if those fish were sentient beings, you couldn't have known that.

>Besides, they beached themselves anyway. Practically asked to get eaten.

>You finish your meal, and Tala takes away the platter, as well as the remains of your food, apple cores and carrots stumps and the like.

>When she returns you begin learning the alphabet again with her help. Memorizing this shit is easy. You are like some kind of super toddler in how fast you get this pony ABC's thing down.

>That was a really stupid way to put it.

 

>The rest of the day goes well, and by the time the sun goes down you think you have the entire alphabet memorized.

>Tala puts the books away and gives you a fresh piece of paper. She says something and looks at you expectantly.

>You know what to do, and write down the entire alphabet in order, Hardly stopping to think.

>She claps her hooves together and says something congratulatory.

>You grin back at her, raising a hand for a high five.

>She stares at your elevated hand, looking confused.

Oh, right.

>You let your hand drop to your side, feeling awkward.

>You let out a mighty yawn.

>Tala chuckles and picks up a few things with her magic, packing them into a saddlebag.

>She walks to the exit, draping the bags over her back and gesturing for you to follow.

>You comply, and she takes a lantern from the table as you head outside.

>You stretch mightily, glad to be able to stand properly again.

>Tala begins walking on ahead, the levitating light bobbing next to her.

>You follow her in silence for a while, trying to get a sense of the town you are in, but its too dark to really see much.

>Tala leads you back onto the farm you woke up on, and for a moment you think she's actually going to tie you up again, but instead she leads you to the entrance of what appears to be a barn.

>She opens the barn door, revealing a rather spacious area within.

>At least you can stand up in here.

>She opens her saddlebags and pulls a few blank scrolls, a quill, and an inkwell out of it. They drift over to you, and abruptly fall when they get within about a foot of you.

>With a jerk, you manage to catch the inkwell before it smashes on the ground.

>Tala blinks, and looks apologetic.

>You smile and bend over and collect the scrolls and quill.

>She takes a couple candles out of the pack next, and lights one of them with the flame of her lantern. When you reach for them she pulls them away, giving you a serious look and speaking in a stern voice. Probably telling you not to set anything on fire.

>You nod, letting her know you understand. Frankly you feel flattered that she trusts you enough to something like this.

>Again when the candle gets within about a foot of you, it falls from Tala's magical grip. This time you are ready, and you catch both of the candles in one hand as they fall, wincing a little as hot wax sears the skin on the back of your hand.

>Tala looks downright confused this time. She pokes you, then a look of concentration comes over her and her horn glows.

>Nothing happens.

>You aren't really sure what to make of this.

>She shakes her head and returns her attention to your face. She points at the scroll, then the horizon, speaking in her odd pony tongue.

>You aren't positive, but you think she's giving you homework. Probably due in the morning.

>You nod, something you seem to be doing a lot lately.

>She smiles at you and begins heading back towards town.

Goodnight.

>She turns and looks back at you, her white mane rustling in the slight breeze.

>You wave.

>She does the same.

>Time to inspect your new living quarters.

>It's strangely empty on the inside, and clean. You wonder what ponies use a barn for anyway.

>There is unfortunately no bedding, but there is a work desk against one wall.

>You put down your only possessions on the desk, taking inventory.

>You have two scrolls, an inkwell, two candles, and a pretty awesome hat to your name.

>These are the only items in this world that belong to you.

>For some reason this hits you pretty hard.

>You sit down on the floor in front of the desk, the candle casts its warm orange glow over you.

>This is the first time you've been able to really sit and think about whats happened so far, about what is going to happen.

>About everything you've lost.

>You suppose it's possible that you aren't entirely fucked. Maybe you can get back home somehow, the unicorns have magic, maybe they can make a portal back somehow.

>Of course, before they could do that you would need to explain just what happened, and where you are from.

>Even in best case scenario and they can send you back, you are going to be here a while. At least long enough to learn their language.

>Then there was worst case scenario, and you were here forever.

>You dwell on that for a while, a feeling of dread settling over you.

>For some reason one of the worst parts about being stuck here that you can think of is the possibility of never hearing familiar songs again.

>You look at the scrolls of paper on the desk.

>You dip the quill in the ink, letting the excess drip off.

>You unfurl the paper, spreading it out as best you can.

>Careful not to press too hard, you begin writing down all the lyrics to any song you can remember.