Three weeks... just a little over a week short of a whole month, now. It's actually quite amazing how much progress I've made with their language, as far as writing goes!

... Then again, I guess not having much else to do to distract me can play a huge role in that.

I can now read and write a pretty good bit of their alphabet, though when it comes to names and such, I still need my Cheat Sheet for that.

Basically, I've got the first half of their alphabet memorized... so now, it's just a matter of memorizing the second half.

At least there's a few notable names that I was quickly taught by the Lyre Unicorn, whose name I've come to learn is "Lyra Heartstrings"... eh, at least my original guess wasn't that far off!

Then the cream-colored pony's name is Bon-Bon. At first I thought it was BoneBon, due to the way how their "e" is written being very similar to a dash... but as it turns out, they are very precise with the alignment of the line. Just a simple nudge in the wrong direction, or to the side... just a very slight curve, or a very precise angle difference, and it's a completely different symbol or letter... who knew?

But that was, thankfully, fixed when Lyra translated it into English for me... something that caught me off guard, to say the least.

As it turns out, not only am I learning their language, but they're also taking the time to learn mine! Gotta admit, it feels nice to know that they're at least trying to be considerate.

Sure, there was that awkward moment two weeks ago that we swore never to speak of again.

Let's just say that, after being crammed underneath a bed for about ten minutes, I took the time to see what the strange books were that scared Princess Celestia off. At first glance, I thought that it was just some sort of Fashion Magazine... until I opened the first page of the book that she grabbed.

Not gonna lie, I almost felt jealous of the stallion on the picture... but then again, this world changed me in many more ways than one, so said jealousy was short-lived, while I gave the quickly-closed book a cocky grin... I... could've probably worded that better, actually.

Oh, yes, I wasn't out of shape back on Earth. Far from it! But I can promise you that my abs, my muscles, and all of my body weren't as... well-toned as they are now! It's almost like the Magic that was used in that portal had some side-effects to it!

In fact, when Lyra threw me up the stairs, I was half-tempted to scream out of fear of being hurt... but when I landed, I didn't even feel any pain! I checked my arms, and found that I didn't even get a Carpet Burn, despite being dragged onto the carpet!

At first I thought I might've been given some kind of Super-Strength... but when I tried to lift the bed up with one hand, I was a bit... disappointed. It was still a pretty heavy obstacle, to say the least. I'd have to use both hands to make it budge.

In other words, no Super-Strength. I was so tempted to say, "Holy shit, I'm Superman!" as well, if I did have such a blessing... Sigh...

On the bright side, though, I may not be strong... but I've definitely improved in Endurance! In-between running in place and doing push-ups, I found that I could probably run a Million Marathons before I even break a sweat! Sure, not as fast as a rocket, but maybe this world's gravity gives me enough speed to catch up with these ponies?

Eh, I digress.

So I've figured out the basics of writing, so now it's time I focus on the next half of it... speaking.

I sit down on the carpet in the Basement Room, and start to repeat the phrases that Lyra speaks... slowly. Though at first I've been doing an awful job, I've kinda-sorta started practicing the speaking part as well as writing early on, so it's not like I'm completely out of it!

"Ap͝ples t̕a̧st̨e gǫod!̛" she tells me. I repeat after her.

"A͘͞͡͡p̸͘͝͠p͏̢̀͠ĺ͠e͢͏̶҉͘ş̧ ̵̛͏̛t͡a̵̢͜͟s̸͢҉͝t̵̀͞e̛͜ ̶͏̶͝͡gǫ̵͝o̸͢͏̷d̛̀̀̀!̨̧͡͏" ... I never said I could repeat it perfectly, dammit!

She winces at my horrible accent, but clears her throat again.

"<Apples taste good!>" she writes for me. This time I'm certain of what she said!

"Ápp̴͘l̷̢e͘s̡̡͜ ̛͟͞ta̢͜s̷͏t̕e͝ ̀͝g̵o̷od!̡" I reply.

She seems content enough with this, and nods her head in approval.

"<Good job! Though maybe a little less pitch on the 'L', and a bit faster on the 'S', if that's alright?>" she tells me... via writing.

I chuckle and scratch the back of my neck. I then use one of the pre-written cards I've made, and hold it out for her.

"<Sorry!>"

She waves a dismissive hoof, before replying with another card. "<It's alright!>"

She then talks to me again. "Yo̵u̕'r̡̢͜e ͝ḑ̛͢o̶͟i̶̴̡n͜g͝҉ ͏͟a̴ ̸gŗ̛͜è͟at̨̛͞ ̨͡j̨͜͡o̷͢b!̡"

I take a moment to figure out the words, but when I do, I smile and nod my head in appreciation.

"Th́a̧͟ņ̛̕͢͠ks̕!̴̶͠͠͏" I reply to her.

She takes a moment to understand my accent as well, before nodding her head approvingly.

Heh... won't be long until I've figured this shit out!

Sure I won't be able to speak perfectly, what with the differences between our jaw structures, and all that, but hey. At least I'll be able to understand what they say!

I shift my gaze over to the door when I hear it creaking open. Bon-Bon walks inside, and looks in-between the two of us.

She then starts to speak, though I'm not quite accustomed to her accent just yet... still have to go over accents with Lyra.

Speaking of, I can at least pick up "Lyra" and "Come". It's then made clear she needs to borrow her friend for a moment, what with the whole 'beckoning' hoof motions.

Lyra pouts at her, which makes me chuckle slightly.

Man, one would ALMOST think they're a couple... though after seeing some of the cover art on those books, I'd wager a guess that Lyra's bisexual... not that it's MY right to judge, of course. Ponies, Magic, who knows? Maybe it's a cultural thing?

"Aww, but B̸̡̨͢ó́̀n̡̕͟n͘҉͠҉͞į͟͡e̛͢͟͠!̢́" she whines to her friend. I can't quite tell what she calls her friend, sadly enough... "Bon" but with more attached to the end of it... must be some kind of nickname. Wouldn't surprise me if she calls her "Bonnie", to be honest... kinda flows with the tongue.

Regardless, I smile and nod at Lyra, motioning for her to go with Bon-Bon... but then Bon-Bon clears her throat, and starts to speak to me... again, in her odd accent.

Lyra motions for her to slow down, before looking at me, and translating it for her.

"<You should come too!>" she says.

This makes me raise a curious eyebrow. For a brief moment, I forget to speak Equish, and instead, result to asking in English.

"Uh... where?"

"#̴̢̨͢͞#̷͜͟...̕͡ ͟͞͏͞#̴̵̸͘#̕͏̶#̡̧̛͘##?" I hear him say something in, what he said was, "English". Gotta admit, I've got no idea what his language sounds like, but-

"What did he say?" Bonnie asks me.

I smile and take his hand by my Magic Aura to help him onto his feet... which he does with a little hesitation.

"Sounds like an 'Alright' to me! So c'mon, let's go!" I reply.

Bonnie looks unsure, but in the end, we all make our way up to the Living Room...

... then upstairs...

... and finally, at Bonnie's Bedroom Door! I stop in place, and deadpan at her.

"Wait, didn't you say something about bringing him into your room?" I ask inquisitively.

She deadpans at me. "Didn't I say something about bringing him into your room?"

... Touche.

I shrug my shoulders, dropping the subject.

She opens her door, where I see... that her room now has a ponnequin shaped like a human in the center. Should I call it a hummequin? Mannequin?

Eh, that last one sounds kinda lame. Hummequin it is!

And yet, on that hummequin, I immediately notice a light brown tunic wrapped around its chest, lowering to its knees!

I stare at it in awe, before shaking the stupor from my eyes. "Wait a minute... Bonnie, did you get Rarity to tailor this? I thought you said that we'd keep him from being exposed to the public!"

She rolls her eyes and replies, "I didn't, Lyra. I made the tunic, myself!"

This catches me off guard. "Wait... you made this tunic?"

She nods her head, folding her forelegs over her chest. "Yeah... why do you ask?"

I chuckle lightly, before rubbing the back of my neck. "Heh... it's just that... well... I never took ya for the tailoring type!"

She smirks back at me, replying, "Oh, trust me, Lyra. There's a lot more about me than you realize!"

I roll my eyes, and wave a dismissive hoof. "Riiight... what's next, you work for some sort of secret organization that hunts down the paranormal and stuff?"

I don't even bother looking her way, as I eye the tunic, impressed by the design.

SHIT! HOW DOES SHE KNOW?! ... Wait a minute... no, keep it together! She's Lyra FKING Heartstrings! She's just as daft as a filly being educated by a pile of nine-year-old rocks that were tutored by a pile of donkey dung!

I look at the shirt... or rather, tunic, by the looks of it, and give a rather impressed whistle. Not gonna lie, I've been feeling very uncomfortable being in the nude all this time, even though the ponies here don't seem to wear anything, themselves.

It was especially discomforting when I had to avoid Lyra's gaze that always seems to trail a little lower than I'd like. Granted, I'm sure it's mostly just her being curious about my... differences... but even still, that doesn't make it any easier! Especially when she starts to feel very uncomfortably close to that area!

I've lost count how many times I had to push her hoof off of my leg, just so I can combat the very unwanted blood flowing down South. Weeks of being pent-up, most likely!

... Changing the subject, lest it become a problem once again, at this very inconvenient time!

I nod my head in appreciation towards Bon-Bon. I then tell her, "Thanks!" in English, though I also mentally facepalm at the thought of her not knowing what the hell I said shortly after.

Thankfully, Lyra clarifies, having heard me say it timelessly.

Two-Way Learning at its finest!

"T͟͜h̡at̴͡'͟s͝ ̷̸h̀͠is ͏w̸̨̛a͝y͟͟͝ ̧̡͘o̸͘͡f́ ͠͝sa̷͘y̷̸i̛҉n̶̢̕g ͜'̢͜Ţ͡h̶͘a̸n̡͢k Y̷͟o̷͟͟u͡͝'͝.̕" she tells her.

"Ooooh..." Bon-Bon replies, before nodding her head at me, and saying, what I'm guessing is her way of saying "You're welcome".

I then fight the urge to scratch behind her ears. After doing that with Lyra once, she gasped and made some... very inappropriate moans. The same kind when I accidentally touched her horn while petting her mane.

Basically, mane-petting is the closest show of affection I can give them without the risk of sexually harassing them.

And again, we change the subject!

I walk over to the mannequin, which actually stands at my height, surprisingly, and slip the tunic on. It even has a sash in the center, with a built-in belt to keep it tied around my waist, so I don't have to worry about it unfolding on me!

Sure, some pants underneath would be nice, but I can't just go around making demands, when she went through all the effort just to get me clothed! After all, I doubt if there's any more humans here... at least, I don't think there are.

... Questions for later, I guess.

I turn around, and smile at the two of them. They seem to be staring at me in awe... heh... I guess they like what they see?

Perhaps I should give them a good show, then... perhaps teach them why it's rude to stare! Flexing my arms, I feign a yawn while doing curls, then bring my fists to my hips.

"Yawn... Oh, good morning, ladies! Like what you see?" I ask in English, not really caring that they don't understand what I'm saying... not that it would really matter, by the looks of it.

Their faces turn red at the sight, making me smirk internally. Looks like they're buying it!

"You know..." I then flex my left arm out, and lift my right arm up, curling it over my head, and look up towards the ceiling.

"The ceiling in this room looks especially nice over there! The light shines much brighter on the left..."

The two mares place their hooves over their mouths, impressed by the sight... Lyra, especially.

Finally, I see just how much of a reaction I can get when I slowly look towards them. My eyes locked towards Lyra's, I shift my pose and curl my right arm towards the other wall, in a serpent-like posture. My left arm curls downward, with my hand stopping short of my right elbow.

"... Than the right!"

I then resume the heroic pose, placing my fists onto my waist, unaware that the belt's starting to come undone while my legs stretch slightly outwards.

"Wouldn't you agree?" I ask, raising a thumb up, and winking at them... right as the belt unfastens. The tunic then unfolds, and the center of it, naturally, opens up.

Lyra's nose immediately spouts out a stream of blood, before her eyes roll up at the back of her skull. With a goofy grin, she falls backwards, and lands with a painful-sounding *THUD*, while I just freeze there in place.

Like their faces, mine suddenly starts to turn red.

Bon-Bon slowly deadpans at me, before a thin stream of blood just gently falls from her nostrils.

If there's anything I can guess she said, it would probably be somewhere along the lines of "Not funny"... and sure enough, I quickly agree, as I pull the tunic back up, fold the belt back in place, and clear my throat.

"R-right... uh..." I pause, before facepalming again, and grabbing a nearby sheet of paper. (Still not sure how the hell they have so much paper just waiting to be written on!)

"<Sorry. Didn't expect that. Is Lyra okay?>" I write out to Bon-Bon, who eyes it curiously.

It takes her a moment to get what I've written down, but when she does, she rolls her eyes and nods with a smile, speaking out her response.

I raise a confused eyebrow, which only makes her groan. She then writes out a response for me.

"<Yes. She's always like this. Give her a minute, and she'll be back in full health.>"

I sigh in relief. Glad my antics didn't cause serious problems... until I notice a side-note that she left.

"<But now that you can understand this, mind cleaning up the blood?>"

Fair enough, I suppose. I nod my head, then wait while she finishes adding another message for me to read.

"<Also, it's time I went over the ground rules with you. Get ready for a lot more writing, buddy.>"

...

Well... fu-

Author's Notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V5VdSH_37w