“Hi, Karyn,” said Derpy as she appeared in her bedroom. “Are we alone again?”

Karyn ran to the door and peeked down the stairs to the ground floor. “No, we’re not. The folks are here and not going anywhere. And trust me, you don’t want to go downstairs or outside.”

“Why not?”

“It’s like a charnel house down there. Dad’s preparing for his big barbecue.”

Derpy, confused, decided to take a look out the window to see what Karyn was talking about, but she was barred by an outstretched arm. “OK, then, tell me what a barbecue is.”

“It’s a big party. A cookout. But there’s a lot of guests and Dad bought a ton of meat. So if you don’t want to see table after table full of dead animals, just stay here.”

“They eat meat, huh?”

“Are you kidding?” said Karyn. “They must have five hundred chicken wings down there. None of the rest, just the wings.”

“That won’t let them fly.”

“They’re not going to fly. They’re going to eat them. Not to mention all the ground beef, steaks, shish kebabs, and sausage.”

Derpy smiled. “Oh, I like sausage!”

Karyn was shocked. Perhaps there was some kind of vegetarian sausage that ponies made. “Really?”

“Absolutely. Sauce is tasty, so I want my food with a high degree of sauce-age!”

“Ugh. No, it has nothing to do with sauce. Well, actually it does, but that’s not what sausage is. It’s something so nasty that even people who eat meat won’t watch it being made.”

Derpy now took Karyn’s advice and backed toward the middle of the room.

“Yeah, and I have to be in the middle of it,” Karyn said. “So you’re probably going to want to head for home. But there’s some good news.”

“What’s that?”

“Two days from now, I’ll be moving back to college to go to school. Next Sunday, we’ll be back to our old routine!”

Derpy clapped her hooves. “That’ll be great! I’m looking forward to it.”

“So, until then,” Karyn said, but Derpy held up a hoof.

“We’ve got to plan. We’ve got to pack. Do you know everything you’re going to bring? How are you getting there? Are you going to be in the same room? We can completely redecorate!”

“Whoa, whoa! Settle down. See, there’s some bad news to go along with the good news.”

“I thought the barbecue was the bad news,” said Derpy.

“Well, it was, but that will be over soon. The real bad news is that when I do move back, I’m going to have a roommate.”

“Hey, that’s great. You’ll be just like Lyra and Bon-bon. They’re the best of friends.”

Karyn put on a wry smile. “Yeah, some people think they’re more than that. And I don’t swing that way. But if I have a roommate, Sundays are going to be just as much of a hassle getting to see you.”

“Oh. That’s right. Well, maybe we don’t have to as often.”

“No. I’m definitely not breaking a single date with you. You’re my best friend, Derpy. These days with you keep me going through the week.”

At that moment, Karyn’s mother called her down to run to the store to get ice, so she said good-bye to Derpy and ran out. On her drive, she thought more about how to deal with the problem. Maybe the roommate will be a brony like me, she thought, who’ll keep the secret and might even spend time with Derpy and me! That would be nice. But probably not. Well, more likely is that she’ll be a late sleeper and I can sneak off before she gets up.

Karyn made it through the barbecue and the next day, but that night her parents called her into the living room after dinner.

“It’s like this,” her father said. “We’d love to drive you back to school tomorrow, but we’d have to miss work. As it happens, we got a flyer today about a great deal on a moving company that will take all your stuff with you. They’ll even help haul it in and set up your furniture.”

Her mother said, “And since it’s your second year, we won’t have to go through all the separation anxiety. It works out best for everyone.”

“Really?” said Karyn, “I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s OK, I guess. I was kind of looking forward to it, though.”

“Well,” her father said, “we were going to give you the money we saved on gas and by working to spend at college, so. . . “

“If you put it that way, have a great semester!” Karyn smiled and hoped that she wasn’t sounding too selfish.

She went back to her room and set about changing her packing. With the space of a truck available, she could take more, and decided on one of her folding bookshelves and the books that went with it, along with her full set of bedding and a space heater for when it got really cold. She staged it all by the front door and spent her last night at home.

In the morning, after she woke and dressed, she finished breakfast and moved everything out to the driveway except for the really heavy stuff. She assumed that the driver would be some big burly fellow who would have no problem lifting her bookcase and heavy boxes. When the truck finally pulled up, she waited for the door to open. When a minute passed and no sign of action, she went up to the door and knocked. The tinted window rolled down.

Karyn barely registered surprise at the gray head and blonde hair that appeared in the window.

“Hi! Ready for the big move?” said Derpy.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“I am at work, silly! The Equestrian postal service does moving as well.”

Karyn leaned on the window, trying to block anyone who might be passing by from seeing Derpy. “Yeah, I’ve seen you moving a piano. If I recall correctly, you dropped it on Twilight Sparkle.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“It was a long time ago.”

Derpy opened the door. “So forget it! We need to get all this stuff loaded and get on the road!”

“Where did you get this truck anyway?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s not mine, just a rental,” Derpy said, as if this answered the question.

Derpy went invisible, and they discreetly lifted bags and furniture into the back of the truck, aided by the extending ramp. In a few moments, they were ready to get on the road.

“Are you sure you can drive this?” asked Karyn.

“Oh, yeah. This is an Equestrian truck. Built for ponies. No problem at all.”

Karyn pulled out her smart phone and pulled up the GPS. She relayed the directions to Derpy, who was indeed capable of driving the truck with no troubles. It was a pleasant day, and Karyn was glad that her friend had shown up.

“This would have been totally boring without you,” she said.

“Well, we can’t have that. Now where do we park?”

“It’s probably better to just pull up to the dorm and we’ll empty out there. Then we can park afterwards and spend the rest of the day. Assuming my roommate isn’t in the dorm already, in which case we’ll have to hide you.”

When they had parked in the lane near the dormitory building, Derpy turned her invisibility back on and they both slipped out the passenger side. Karyn found a bored person who could have been a security guard or a residential life person, and she asked where she was supposed to go. He waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the building’s rear. A quick search led to a table where they were signing in new arrivals. She got on line and waited with a bag in hand. Once she got to the table, she found an alphabetical list of students with their room numbers. She ran her finger down.

“Hubert, Karyn Ann. Floor four, room six. That’s me,” she said. The lady behind the table made her sign a form and gave her a key. She tried to scan for the same number elsewhere on the list to find her roommate, but she was hustled off quickly to allow others to check in.

Derpy and she began hauling her clothes into the building. When they were in public, Derpy stood close by, making it look like Karyn was carrying everything and was exceptionally strong. Once in the elevator, they separated and Karyn smiled at the floating plastic case.

They reached the room and Karyn peeked cautiously inside. It was empty and bore only the furniture that the university provided. There was a set of bunk beds on one wall, and two desks, armoires, and closets. The choice was between the set closest to the bed or that closest to the window.

“Do you think it’s all right to put my stuff away?” Karyn asked. “Or should I wait for the other girl to get here and decide who gets what fairly?”

“Hey, if she’s late, it’s her loss! I’d use the closet by the window if it were me,” said Derpy.

Karyn shook her head and plopped her cases and bags in the middle of the room. “Come on, let’s go haul the bookcase.”

When they came back with the case, Karyn holding it by the middle and Derpy lifting from above, they saw a new list attached to the building. This one had the names in room order, and again Karyn ran a finger down the list to the name below hers.

“Rhodes, Peony Violet. What kind of a name is that?” she muttered.

When they reached the elevator, she continued in her normal voice.

“Peony Violet? Sounds like a character in a bad fan-fiction.”

“I know a pony named Peony,” said Derpy.

“Yeah, it’s a fine name for a pony, but for a human it probably means she’s hipster or emo or goth or scene, if there’s a difference. Or maybe her parents were actual hippies and named her that just to be weird.”

“Don’t pre-judge her just from her name.”

Karyn stabbed at the “4” button trying to make the elevator go faster. “You’re right. It’s just as likely that she’s rebelled against her folks and gone too far in the other direction. If she puts up a Richard Nixon poster, though, I’m calling Res Life and asking for a transfer.”

Derpy smirked and they carried on to the room. “Karyn, I really don’t think you should just dump all your stuff in the middle here. Go ahead and set it up the way you want it. I’m sure your roommate won’t mind.”

“Even if I do, I’ll want everything in before I decide where it all goes. Better than filling a drawer and then something needs to go on the bottom. Besides, we should probably move the truck.”

They left the room and pulled the truck around to a parking lot. There were still a few items left to bring in, but they would be passing by a few more times anyway. In front of the lot they parked in was a gray building.

“Ooh, a book store!” said Derpy. “Can we go in?”

“Actually, since I still don’t want to put all my stuff away, we might as well. I’m warning you, though, this isn’t a typical book store. You’re probably not going to like it.”

“Nonsense, a book store is a book store.”

It was technically a book store, but Derpy was indeed disappointed. The most prominent displays were given to sweatshirts and tote bags bearing the university’s name and logo. The shelves were not stocked wall to wall, but rather had four or five copies of each book lying flat with a class designation below it. Most of the books had stickers saying “Used” on them. The stickers were unnecessary.

Derpy whispered, “You know, Karyn, if Twilight ever walked in here, she would have a heart attack. All these damaged books would be like, well, if I had gone to that barbecue.”

“Oh, believe me, that’s not the worst part.”

“What is?”

Karyn found an attendant and handed him a copy of her class list. After a few minutes, he came back with a stack of books and rang her up.

“That will be five hundred twenty-seven with tax,” he said.

Derpy was not completely familiar with human currency, but she had vague remembrances of previous purchases, and even if she hadn’t, she could tell from the way Karyn puffed her cheeks out and exhaled that she was being charged a lot of money.

“Come on,” Karyn said, “Let’s go dump these back at the room.”

“Actually, I’m a bit hungry. Can we grab a snack first?”

“Hmm. . . I’m a little tapped out after buying those books. Actually, I knew they would cost about that much, but still, dropping the money just makes you want to not purchase anything for a while. Are coffee and donuts OK?”

“We can pop over to Equestria if you want. My treat,” said Derpy.

Karyn thought about that and strongly considered saying yes. But then she looked at the truck. “Actually, you’re helping me move, so it’s I who should be doing the favors. Yeah, we’ll go and get whatever you want. Price no object. I guess buying you a beer would be the most traditional thank you.”

“Beer is nasty. I drank it once, and the less said about it, the better. Besides, it’s too early. The coffee and donuts sounded good.”

As they made their way to the donut shop, their mood lightened as they realized all the advantages they had regained. Everything was once again within walking distance, and the college-town atmosphere was more pleasant and recreational compared to the suburbs.

They sat in a corner booth of the shop with Karyn’s back to the rest of the store. With Derpy effectively screened, she could munch on her donut without anyone noticing it disappearing into nothing.

“We should start planning outings for the Sundays that you’re here,” said Karyn. “In case this Peony girl is the type to stay in the dorm all day. We don’t want a repeat of what happened when Mike showed up.”

“It would be nice, but I’m sure we’ll have some dorm time.”

“What would really be funny is if she had a secret friend from another universe that she spent Sundays with as well.”

Derpy guffawed, turning some heads and causing Karyn to have to give an embarrassed wave and point to her Bluetooth.

“That was funny!”

“Yeah, well, we don’t want people to stare. Come on, it’s still light out. We can do some window shopping on the way back.”

“Cool, I love window shopping.”

Karyn pursed her lips. “You do know that—“

“Yes, I know what you mean.”

“OK, good.”

“You mean picking out new windows for your dormitory, right?” said Derpy. “You aren’t just using it to mean walking past stores and not buying anything.”

Karyn was fit to burst, but decided to wait until they had left the donut shop before retaliating. As they walked back toward the dormitory, they passed an electronics store. Karyn pressed her nose to the glass.

“I really wish I could afford to buy a video game,” she said. “I haven’t had one in such a long time. I think I’m two or three generations behind.”

“You mean you haven’t had one since your grandparents?”

“It feels that way. But no, they put out new systems every few years, and that’s a generation.”

Derpy didn’t say anything for a few moments. She saw Karyn’s longing look. “Well, why don’t you get one that’s one generation behind?”

“I can’t afford to buy anything, even if it’s old.”

“Come on. If you spend enough time on this thing, you might actually wind up saving money.”

Karyn looked into her purse. Not that she was carrying a lot of cash, but she still thought of it as where her money came from. “I know I’ll hate myself in the morning,” she said, as she opened the door to the store.

She walked out a few minutes later with a box inside a bag. “I’ll probably come back and return this tomorrow.”

“Oh, Karyn. You can’t always be beating yourself up over money. It’ll get better with time.”

“Well, maybe this Peony girl will want to play with me once I’ve got this set up.”

Derpy bit her tongue and kept quiet. They walked back with Karyn keeping her eyes on the road and not looking at the store windows for fear of being dragged in to look at clothes or bags or something else. Again she exercised utmost caution as she opened the door to her room, but she still saw only her own effects piled in the center of the room.

“Well, at least we can talk freely now,” Karyn said as Derpy went visible. “But I do wish this girl would show up. It’s annoying when you know something is going to happen but the person you’re waiting on strings it out.”

Derpy coughed as though she were choking on something.

“Derpy, are you all right?”

“Yeah, just fine. Come on, let’s unpack!”

Karyn tapped her foot on the ground. “I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

“All right, I guess it’s confession time.”

“What did you do?”

“Maybe it’s easier to show you for starters.” Derpy looked around. On top of one pile waiting to be put away was a dry-erase message board that Karyn planned to stick to a refrigerator to write notes on. Derpy dug through the pile and found the marker that went with it.

With her back to Karyn, she seemed to be writing something. Then, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth, Derpy started drawing lines on the board. With a flourish, she held the board out for Karyn to see.

Karyn’s mouth seemed to disconnect from her brain, as it made nothing but “W. . . w. . . w. . .” sounds for about fifteen seconds. Then, having had enough of that, she switched over to “Bu. . . bu. . . bu. . .” for another fifteen. Finally, the first coherent sentence to come out of her mouth was:

“Your middle initial is N?”

“Well, I might have cheated a little,” said Derpy. “Derpy ‘No-middle-name’ Hooves kinda has an N. But if I didn’t, I would have had to name her Vepy, which doesn’t sound like any kind of a name.”

“I’m confused.”

“Well, when you left on Sunday to go to the barbecue, I was all alone in your room, and you just told me how having a roommate was going to be a hassle. And your computer was sitting right there. So I logged on and found Derpynet. Remember her?”

“Disctinctly,” said Karyn. “I also remember her promising not to interfere.”

“With the world at large. I don’t think she—or Karynet, they’re together—stopped wanting to do nice things for you. Anyway, they arranged it so that this made-up person got listed in with you when they assigned rooms. The local rosters that the people who run the dorms use have the room as only being occupied by you, but the ones that tell them where they have free space will list Peony as being here.”

Karyn had a momentary flash of an ethical quandary, but quickly concluded that the university took enough from students in general and her in particular that it could afford to go without one semester’s room and board fee.

“Well, I suppose this isn’t the worst thing you’ve done. And I do get the room to myself now.”

“Exactly. So, like I’ve been saying, let’s decorate!”

They started picking up things from the pile. With twice the space and furniture available, Karyn found it easy to organize her room. She decided to make one “working desk” and one “play desk.” The video game system and her small TV went by the play desk.

“You’ve got to show me how to play that some time,” said Derpy.

“Yeah, that could be tricky with hooves. Video games are mostly about precision finger work.”

Derpy arranged all the pens and stationery on the working desk while Karyn picked out a set of bedding and made the bed. The random pile that had taken up the center of the room was dwindling as everything found a place. Karyn stacked the two mini-fridges that came with the room.

“There. When they’re together, they look almost like one normal fridge. Let me have that whiteboard.”

“Sure, just let me erase it first.”

“Oh, no,” said Karyn. “I want to keep what you’ve written. It’ll remind me of how much of a trickster you are. I’ll be ready next time.”

“You’ll never know what I’m planning next!” said Derpy with a slyness in her voice. “I am the ultimate prank-puller! Pinkie Pie has nothing on me. You know why? Because even I don’t know what I’m going to do until I do it.”

“I actually believe that.”

The last of the arrangement was complete, and Derpy and Karyn sat by the window sipping sodas.

“We ought to take a picture of the room as it is,” said Karyn. “It’ll probably be the last time it’s this clean.”

“Hey, you’re not so bad. Remind me to tell you how bad Dinky was at picking up her room.”

Karyn held up her bottle of soda and gestured for Derpy to do the same.

“Well, however it goes, here’s to a great semester.”

The bottles clinked

Author's Notes:

Coming next week!

“But Princess Celestia is good. She never does things like that.”

Derpy breathed easier. “You’re right. But we still don’t know why she wants us. We’re just going to have to go and see her.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derpy and Karyn were left alone, and they were both in panic mode. “Is this some kind of horrible dream?” asked Derpy. “Pinch me to make sure.”

“I don’t think that works. Everyone knows that that’s what you do to make sure it’s not a dream, so you might even dream that the pinch hurt.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We feel that if humans are to be allowed into Equestria, that we should take the opportunity to really learn about them.”

Derpy held up a hoof. “What do you think I’ve been doing?”

“We mean in a more controlled setting,”

That's next week. Just so you know, we're going up to Chapter 30, then there'll be a "clip show" followed by a week off. After that, something really special! Thank you for all your support!