Duncan awoke the same way he had for the past couple of days, and today would make a full week since he's been in Equestria. Though he's grown accustomed to waking up with a slight crick in his back from the way the bed was not set up for humans, the day started mostly the same.
''I really need to get me something better than this,'' Duncan went right to work cracking his back and neck to get any knots out. ''Another week of this, and I think I might deform my spine,'' Duncan said as he slowly shuffled his way into the bathroom, looking to get not only the taste of morning breath out of his mouth, but look presentable for the events that were planned out for today. Splashing his face with some water and using a small rag to wipe the sleep out of his eyes, he took a seat on the small wooden chair in the room to think. It would really be today he would see more of these ponies, but also, find out more about the world around him versus looking at the various books and growth of a tree, which still made question why to actually live inside of a tree, as big as it is.
Twilight, in all her wisdom, pressed the issue from the first day her and her friends talked about introducing Duncan to Princess Celestia in the hopes of possibly getting him back to his own world, or to be a part of this one, seeing as his life before coming here was less than ideal because getting shot will often change one's mind about a lot of things, especially in near death.
Mayor Mare, the mayor of Ponyville, (Duncan snorted to himself at the pun) wanted to set a small meeting to get Duncan slowly introduced to the townsfolk in a way that did not seem like showering him with so many different faces. And the guest with the most influence today would be meeting the Princess of the land.
Or one of them, at least.
And knowing that she was the one to exile his kind to. . .wherever on the basis of any number of things did put a small damper on his mood at the moment. In his mind, maybe they deserved it, but another part of him hoped against it for the fact of seeing as it's technically illegal for humans to be in Equestria according to Twilight, Duncan was beginning to have second thoughts.
Would he be sent to go with his kind to wherever?
Would Celestia kill him on the spot or take him prisoner?
Would he-
''-Duncan,'' Twilight called from outside, knocking on the bathroom door. ''Are you ok? you've been in the bathroom for 15 minutes. Is it something wrong?''
''Oh, no, of course not.'' Duncan thought. ''Just contemplating the biggest choice of my young life is all.'' Duncan thought as he finished brushing his teeth with the mango flavored toothpaste.
He wanted to bang his head against something hard, but he knew it would do nothing but bring him pain instead of relief.
''Um. . .yea, Twi,'' Duncan let the nickname slip, rubbing the back of his neck as he came out, slipping past the unicorn and looking to put on the best neutral look that he could. ''Just peachy keen, know what I mean?''
Twilight quirked an eyebrow but didn't let up with her point. ''You sure? You look like you've seen a ghost.''
Duncan figured he should level with her, no use in lying. ''Ok, let me be honest when I say this; I don't really trust this whole situation. I mean, it's still weird knowing that ponies can talk, let alone how I survived getting shot and falling off a bridge.'' Duncan said, walking out of the bathroom to see Twilight by his bed with a curious look on her face. ''After all this time, I've barely gotten warmed up to you guys, plus I didn't sleep that much-''
''Duncan.'' Twilight said.
''And the thought that I may never be able to get home and see-''
''Duncan,'' Twilight moved closer to Duncan, laying a hoof and his leg, his eyes going wide and his arms swinging back and forth as he ranted. ''Just relax for a second. . .it'll be ok.''
That seemed to stop him for a sec as he looked down at her, his mouth contorting into a creepy half smile. His brown eyes narrowed and he huffed a breath of air and spoke again, though with a low tone.
"Yea, yea, if you say, Twilight.'' Duncan said, turning to look outside his window and see the town of Ponyville go by and the citizens go about their daily lives, unknowing that a human was only a few hundred feet away from them, watching, waiting. . . . unsure. "So when do we leave?''
Twilight trotted out of the room, a smile on her face. ''Now.'' Paying a silent look of irritation and resignation, Duncan followed Twilight down the stairs with less of a vigor than he would have thought possible. "And remember, be in high spirits, this is a day of celebration.'' Twilight smiled, leading the charge to Town Hall with Spike and Duncan in tow.
''Celebration or exhibition?'' Duncan saw no difference of the two. Well, one thing he was happy to enjoy was the warm sun against his face as he stepped outside to look at the mountains landscape in the distance with rows upon rows of lush grass being swept back and forth by a cool breeze. On either side of him, space out with some distance was a few of the homes in Ponyville. From his perspective, they looked to be well insulated with pretty pink fences guarding flowers of all different colors and sizes. A lot of the homes that he was able to see followed more or less the same pattern, or differed based on the area. "So, where is this 'carriage' of mine?''
''Over here, Duncan,'' Applejack came trotting over, paying the human with a fine how do you do. "We should get this show on the road, the town hall isn't that far, but we're not trying to have anypony who doesn't need to see you yet to. . .well, see you yet,'' Duncan found her small chuckle understandable. ''So how's your morning going so far?''
After a week of being here, Duncan was slowly beginning to have less of a concerned face whenever one of the girls, or once or twice, Spike asked how he was or how he was handling the entire situation which was nice to know that someone cared, even though that someone just happened to be a pony from another world that can talk.
''They're not so bad,'' Duncan thought as he was telling Aj about the events of just a few minutes ago. ''Who knows, maybe I can find a semblance of enjoyment here. . .maybe.''
Riding in the carriage with Spike while Aj pulled wasn't necessarily a bad feeling, it was just different. It was a little bit of a bumpy ride, though before he knew it, he had arrived in about 10 minutes.
''Welp, here we go. You ready, Duncan?'' Spike asked, hopping out of the carriage and onto the steps of what he assumed to be the infamous town hall as he heard the pitter patter of the dragon's tiny feet. ''Can't wait to get this squared away so we can start to hang.'' Spike was excited at the idea of having a male friend to hang around, which Duncan understood completely if he had to be the one waking up everyday to pretty much all females.
''I second that, little buddy, cause I can already tell what kind of mindset you've been breeded into, so hopefully I can help change that.'' Duncan said, walking through the doors to be greeted to a circular room, tall and wide as the eye could see. Above him were multiple circular balconies. The floor, a light tan, clearly has seen much better days with all of the scuffs and scratches, and the paint on the wall has faded in some spots, but he assumed this place has just seen its fair share of days. All in all, it didn't appear to be too bad.
''Hey, girls,'' Pinkie Pie, greeted coming out with Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow and another pony that Duncan had yet to meet, so he assumed that this would be the person of the hour, at least until the person of the day arrived. ''Duncy, meet Mayor Mare of Ponyville!''
''So this must be what's causing a bit of commotion around here,'' Mayor Mare spoke, slowly trotting towards the human but stopping short. Adjusting her collar and what looked to be some kind of flower tie, she extended a hoof and smiled. "I may not have much knowledge on Humans, but what I have heard is nothing too crazy, so I would like to extend my welcome to Ponyville on behalf of everypony who has yet to meet you.'' Duncan took what she said with a grain of salt. Nothing too crazy could still mean something in their eyes, but he hoped that would not be the case.
''Well, thanks for that, Mayor, but I wouldn't get your hopes up just yet. I'm still new, and there's no telling if I may want or may have to stay here or go back home, or even be sent off with the rest of the Equestrian Humans, but something is bugging me from this whole thing.'' Duncan's face contorted into confusion.
It was interesting to hear how he had yet to be prosecuted, executed or exiled. Duncan wouldn't openly admit this word for word, but based on the girls, Mayor Mare, and Spike; is anyone in this town a snitch? If he brought it back up, it only would prompt more affirmative action from Twilight which is a few hundred years too early in Duncan's mind, but also pointless conversation that would get nowhere, so he would have to redirect the flow to something more light-hearted, if he could help it.
So that's what he did.
''Just how long do you think it'll take for the ponies of this town to. . .well; like me? I mean, I see you're not completely racist, since you got-'' he patted Spike's head and whistled innocently. ''-a freaking dragon here, so I see the strides-''
''Hey!~'' Spike grumbled, swatting Duncan's hand away. ''You're-''
''-Welcome for the compliment,'' Duncan brought focus back to himself. "But if something like that can be done, I just may not be able to see right away it might take for me, is all.'' Duncan was beginning to have second thoughts about this meeting the longer it was taking. But one thing he was sure he knew, even with being here for only a week is that Twilight is likely to chase him down and drag him back, so formulating a plan of escape can come later. "Any immediate ideas can be welcomed.''
It took in all about 30 minutes of talking before anything concrete came out, but nothing really was learned; or that is to say that Duncan did not learn something he was not already learning from the books in Twilight's library, which surprisingly was in the same written English format, though a lot of books did seem to favor cursive writing, and now that he thought about what he was dealing with, it began to make sense.
''Well, something I heard someponies doing to help get used to having friends or get used to a new setting would be to live with friends or ponies that they know really well,'' Fluttershy chimed in, making Duncan quirk an eyebrow. Living together? If he knew the girls as good as he did for knowing them for about a week, then he was safe to assume that she meant the 6 of them would take turns letting him stay at their places and try to help make friends with the town. ''Before they knew it, everypony knew each other and became really good friends. . .so maybe we can help Duncan by trying that.''
Taking a moment to think over it, it dawned on each of the girls differently what this could mean for them and for their resident friend.
''If Duncan gets to stay at each of our places for. . .however long, it could help him to see some of the different friends that each made on our own, and the mutual friends in common, plus we can have our rematch!~ Awesome!~'' Rainbow thought. "Only issue might be whether or not he can stand on clouds though. . .'' In her mind, Duncan was certainly some'body' worth looking into, not just as a friend, but a partner who might be able to do more than Applejack on a good day, granted he works out some. Plus with him being closer by, she can keep a better eye on him if he tries any monkey business.
''That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea, Fluttershy, good thinking." Twilight praised her friend. Taking the stride of the conversation in stride, Rarity added some constructive criticism.
''If Duncan stays with us each, then it could provide us with the chance to help make as many new friends as it takes for him to feel welcome, as well as understanding more about Humans as a whole since the textbooks of now offer little information about anything, especially the different kinds of fashion that they have and the inspirations.~ If only Duncan had some catalogs with him, it would make things all the more better," Rarity pouted in a playful manner.
Duncan was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he knew a thing or two about basic clothes and he figured that in itself should be hopefully be enough.
"Well, I don't have much knowledge about clothes, but you can pick my brain and maybe we can make something happen, Rarity." Duncan said, Rarity immediately cheering and lifting him up a few inches off of the ground in her forehooves. "T-Too tight!~"
"Apologies, dear," Rarity chuckled and put him down, clearing her throat.
Twilight mulled over where Duncan should go first, but after that display, she came to a conclusion quicker than she would have thought. After all, somepony like Rarity could be the one who can help Duncan to start his journey of learning more about the world around him.
She would have preferred him to stay longer at the library with her, but her friends telling her how that'll actually be the thing that ends up being a deterrent for the human was a fair assessment.
"I nominate Rarity to be the one who goes first, what says you girls?" Twilight trotted over to a table and began writing down everyone's name and setting up how long each of them would have Duncan there for. Scribbling quickly on the old parchment with a quill and ink, she decided her schedule.
"Why not? Plus somepony has to be first." Pinkie said, smiling as she bounced up and down.
"Same here, she's the most enthusiastic," Applejack smirked, making Rarity hmph.
"I agree." Fluttershy chimed in. "And I'll have time to prepare the house for him. What about you, Rainbow?"
Rainbow Dash was in the middle of muttering to herself when she stopped and blinked, dropping to the ground after she tucked her wings in. "Meh." Rainbow waved a hoof in disinterest. "That's a hold on the rematch." Rainbow thought, groaning internally.
Duncan, however was the last person to confirm, so Twilight directed the question at him with curiosity. "What about you, Duncan, does this seem like a good idea to you?"
Huffing and clicking his tongue, the human walked over to the unicorn and laid a hand on top on her shoulder, cracking a small smile. "Why not, if I'm gonna be here, might as well make this seem as homey as I can help it." Duncan turned to face everyone else. "So let's get started."